We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Renée Warren. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Renée below.

Alright, Renée thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I believe that Public Relations is the mother of all Marketing because it sets the foundation for the most important thing any entrepreneur should do: relationship building and building a network.

Most people think of PR as either one of two things: 1) getting you media coverage or 2) helping in crises. While both are true, they’re actually just a tiny component of the whole PR engine.

PR engine = PR + Social Media = Content Marketing.

With that, there are a few things that we do differently than others in the industry:
1) We look at the 30,000-foot view of elevating a business owner’s authority in their industry and how social media content becomes a crucial amplifier. The content that our clients publish online is strategic in helping them create an ‘online resume’ of their expertise that ties into how we pitch the media and podcast hosts.
2) We look at the SEO play of PR and how that drives quality traffic to a client’s website. Again, it goes beyond media coverage, and leverages contributed content opportunities and speaking gigs.
3) We offer VIP Days for founders who have an implementor who can integrate a world-class PR strategy so that it becomes a daily marketing function of the business.

Renée , 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 learned a little something about myself this year, I’ve started all my businesses having zero knowledge or experience in the industry. At 17, I opened a restaurant. Not only was that the first time I worked IN the food industry, it was my first job!

In 2012, I opened a PR agency, having never pitched the media before, and grew it to over $1M in revenue. The benefit of having no experience is that I didn’t have to unlearn bad habits or antiquated methods. In fact, it forced me to research what my clients needed TODAY and create solutions based on those needs (not on what was expected of the industry.)

With that experience and having been in the industry for 11 years, I created two unique programs for service-based businesses:
1) My Sidelines to Headlines program. This is a retainer-based, done-for-you program and includes executing our in-depth PR engine.
2) The Authority Booster Intensive. A month-long program done-with-you program where we craft customized PR assets (media kit/list, unique angles, process…) and train your team to implement internally.

I am most proud of the programs that I designed this past year, as it incorporates all the changes that have happened in the media. From mass layoffs to pandemic changes and belief systems being challenged, I was quick to move to create systems and approaches to PR that many haven’t considered.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Back in 2014, we were working with a client who was one of America’s largest property management companies. We were tasked to execute our detailed PR Engine = Traditional PR + Content Marketing + Social Media. This was back when killer infographics got all the attention (A trend we took advantage of!) That coupled with monthly article contributions, weekly LinkedIn article submissions, general media outreach, and a killer hook, our client got syndicated in Yahoo Finance, then Fox News, which subsequently ‘broke their website’ with all the traffic and was the angle we needed to get him an entire segment on the Steve Harvey show.

That process took well over a year to get to a place where we could pitch big names, but it was well worth the effort for many reasons:
– The SEO play was HUGE.
– The founder became notable in his industry.
– He won many awards.
– He eventually sold his business for millions (I’d like to say that I helped to make that happen ;)

My team and I succeeded with this story because we looked at what was on the cusp of trending or was trending and quickly turned that into a part of the strategy. We were never stagnant or complacent. We moved quickly to stay ahead of our times and used our brand as the guinea pig in testing new approaches to PR.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My network. I always stress this: you must deliberately build your network to succeed in business. Business is ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. From introductions to referrals and word-of-mouth, you can excel in your industry if you become the go-to expert, are intentional about how you show up, provide so much value to your network, and maintain an excellent reputation.

That will open so many doors.

There are no ‘secrets’ to networking. You just need to get in the rooms, both online and in person, ask great questions, and follow up. More importantly, become your prospect’s biggest cheerleader. We ALL need cheerleading.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wewildwomen.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renee_warren/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warrenrenee/

Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/storycatcher_photography/