Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nantale Muwonge. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Nantale, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.
I met my first client on Instagram. I think she might have been following me, or I was following her, but we definitely had a rapport going when she booked a free consultation. I was doing an insane number of calls back then! But I’d talk to business owners about what they were doing to get their brands out there and then give them practical things they could do to improve their marketing and PR.
And at the time I also had a Black Friday Readiness Bootcamp, which she was perfect for. So I told her about it, asked if she wanted to sign up and she said yes! I was so excited and she was such a joy to work with. Truly a dream client, I got really lucky in that aspect. And that bootcamp actually ended up being the foundation for what is now my signature program, The Brand Impact Program™.
Nantale, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always been in content and media. I got my very first job at a newspaper back in high school, but I specifically launched Black Girl PR™ and became an entrepreneur after a near death experience. It made me realize that I wasn’t doing enough to make the world better. Then the pandemic hit, which added a sense of urgency, so I quit my life. I went into seclusion and became hyper-focused on what I could do to make a meaningful difference. Something that addressed the systematic racism that Black people are forced to deal with. Black Girl PR™ is one of the things that came out of that.
Black Girl PR™ is a digital PR firm. We teach Black women in ecommerce how to curate content that gets publicity and media coverage, so they reach more people and have a bigger impact. We do this specifically through The Brand Impact Program™, which is a 12-week program that teaches them how to get publicity, so they can go out and do it for themselves.
So far our clients have managed to get features on platforms like Ebony, Essence, Fox TV, Insider, Rolling Out, Shondaland and Time. The visibility has helped them increase their website traffic and sales by up to 60%. And the media exposure has brought them brand partnerships, corporate sponsorships, awards, and more importantly, it’s helping them claim their rightful place as leaders in their industries.
And they’re doing this on their own! They get features during the program because that’s part of the work that we do together, but I’m most proud of the fact that I teach them how to utilize my system so effectively that they don’t even need me once they’re done with the program!
Which is even more perfect because my name, Nantale, is a name of the Mpologoma (Lion) Clan. And lions hunt, they don’t wait to be fed. So I’m teaching these Queens how to hunt and they’re doing it successfully. It’s so satisfying to watch them going after everything and getting it.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
I make it a point to follow my clients, subscribe to their newsletters and just be an active member in their communities. This is an organic way to keep up-to-date with what’s going on with them, and it also makes it really easy for me to refer them when opportunities come up. It’s important for me to still connect them with opportunities even after they’ve come through The Brand Impact Program™ because my network gives me access to more media opportunities. So I make a point of serving as a bridge.
And of course I amplify the media coverage they get, so it reaches even more people. I also celebrate their birthdays and special occasions. I have a referral program, so they get an Amazon gift card when they refer clients. And I have a Facebook group where we celebrate each others’ wins and I share PR and digital marketing insights so they don’t have to stay on top of industry trends.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blackgirlpr.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlpr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackgirlpr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nantale
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackgirlpr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blackgirlpr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@blackgirlpr
Image Credits
Images courtesy of Nantale Muwonge / Black Girl PR
AAMA graphic courtesy of the African American Marketing Association & Hot Buttered Soul