We recently connected with Melissa Perlman and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
BlueIvy Communications is the name of my Public Relations agency. Many give the name a double take, or ponder to themselves, where have I heard that before? Yes, BlueIvy also happens to be the name of Beyonce and JayZ’s first child. However, this is the story of how I came up with BlueIvy Communications when I launched the company in 2011…one year prior to the birth of Blue Ivy Carter!
“Blue” is to celebrate my mom, Susan Perlman, who passed away in 2008 from breast cancer. My mom, who was my best friend, had hazel eyes…yet as a little girl she dreamed of blue eyes. She in fact wished for them every chance she got. And while my mom’s eyes, of course, never changed from hazel to blue…when she had her own family, two out of three of her children (including me!) was born with blue eyes. Growing up, she stared into my eyes, knowing they were the answer to all her wishes.
“Ivy” is in recognition of Brown University, a member of the Ivy League, and where I attended college. It was at Brown, where I majored in English and Expository Writing, wrote for the Brown Daily Herald, reported news for WBRU Radio, and produced feature stories for the Sports Information office, that I perfected my writing.
So there it is, BlueIvy Communications!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After graduating from Brown University with a degree in English, Expository Writing, I immediately joined Office Depot’s headquarters in the Communications department as a summer intern. At the end of the internship, I was hired on as a contractor, then promoted to a Specialist and then Manager of Public Relations. In that role, I was responsible for all Company PR related to North American Retail, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Environment, and Diversity. I worked with the Chairman & CEO as well as various executives at the company on a daily basis. I also served as Company spokesperson. After seven years, on May 31, 2011, I left the company to start my own PR agency, which I named BlueIvy Communications.
As Founder and President of BlueIvy Communications, my goal was to help South Florida businesses and nonprofit organizations get positive media exposure, while enhancing their communications activities. I quickly became the PR arm for various businesses, including: the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, PrimeTime Amusements, Junction International, Law Firms, and more. In 2016, after five years as a solo-preneur primarily, I made the decision to grow BlueIvy into a million dollar business – which we are on our way to doing. I hired a Chief Operating Officer, who has helped me grow BlueIvy Communications into the multi-pronged Communications and Marketing team it is today.
Today, BlueIvy represents a variety of businesses and organizations based in Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, California, and Texas. We also now offer a range of services, including: Communications, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Content Creation, Social Media, Writing, Brochure and Newsletter Design, Website Design and Content, Photography, and Video Creation. Our biggest milestone of the past year would be opening a second location here in South Florida. Despite the pandemic, BlueIvy has continued to grow and expand and bring on new clients. In order to meet the increase in work and allow us to take advantage of new business opportunities in northern Palm Beach County, we opened a second office in West Palm Beach (525 Clematis Street, WPB, FL).
BlueIvy has expanded our services in the past 18 months to meet the needs of growing client base. In addition to Public Relations, Content Creation, Writing, and Social Media services, we now offer google ad creation/management, SEO services, website design and hosting, collateral materials, professional design, logo/branding/style guides, photography, video production, grant writing, as well as operations consulting. This allows our clients to get all of their marketing needs in one place and makes BlueIvy Communications a true partner to the business.
Finally, in the past year-plus, we have secured hundreds of media placements in local Broadcast TV, National Print and Magazine, local print, and radio for our BlueIvy clients. In the last few months, we have secured features in the NY Times, USA Today, Associated Press, Washington Post, and BusinessWeek Magazine, in addition to countless local articles in The Palm Beach Post, Sun-Sentinel, and Business Journal! Despite the pandemic and the challenges it brought on, our clients are also consistently featured on local TV channels (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX). We were able to tweak our clients’ messages and story angles during Covid to ensure they all got the air-time they needed!
In 2021, I was recognized by the South Florida Business Journal as one of their 40 under 40, one of the most prestigious award competitions available in South Florida, Florida. I was also recognized in both 2018 and 2017 as a South Florida Business & Wealth “Up & Comer”; in 2014 by Boca Life Magazine as a Top South Florida “40 Under 40” Professional; in 2012 by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as a “Top Professional on the Move”; and in both 2010 and 2008 by PR News as a “PR Professional to Watch.” I am the current President of the Gold Coast Public Relations Council, South Florida’s largest independent group of PR, marketing and communications professionals from South Florida.
In my spare time, I race marathon and half marathon races in the US and around the world. I have competed in Tel Aviv (Israel), Jerusalem (Israel), Budapest (Hungary), Berlin (Germany), Boston (MA), Duluth (MN), Sacramento (CA), and cities across Florida. I have a personal best time of 2 hours and 49 minutes in the marathon and have my eyes set on the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for BlueIvy Communications is referrals. We are a boutique agency, meaning we keep our client roster at a size where every client is prioritized and given the attention they need. As a result, we keep our clients for years and they in turn are our best ambassadors. Further, with Public Relations, we are all about securing media placements and sharing those results via every platform possible. That means, our results sell themselves. Many of our new clients see what we have done for others in their respective networks, and contact us looking for their own communications and PR support.
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How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
BlueIvy Communications is recognized as one of the top PR and Communications agencies in South Florida. We are seen this way by both colleagues and competitors in the industry as well as by the media and journalists we work with daily. We have earned a reputation as creative thinkers, results-producers, and smart professionals. We have accomplished this by focusing on smart and creative content, our relationships with media, and a commitment to customer service.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blueivy.co
- Instagram: BlueIvyCommunications
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueIvyCommunications
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaperlman/
- Twitter: @blueivycomm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClvUKyf8bciwHAz9tvuUgpg
Image Credits
Credit BlueIvy Communications