06: Simple Publicity Hacks to Reach your Dreams and Grow your Business with Ashley Crouch

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My Guest: Ashley Crouch

Today we hear about Ashley’s amazing journey from herding chickens out in rural Arkansas to running an international publicity agency out of Malibu, California. Ashley is not only proof that if you dream it, you can live it, but her company, Appleseed Communications helps hundreds of women live their dreams by supercharging their business through publicity, while also supporting female entrepreneurs in developing countries 1:1 for every client helped.

Ashley talks about her struggle with her growing popularity – how can she be available for potential new leads without compromising her time, and maximize the time she does spend on lead generation.


Pivotal Moments:

First female on both sides of the family to get university degree
Getting connected to someone over brunch and capturing the moment
Moving to NY to start new mag
Launch now why wait
Working at Verily and realizing that if you capture the story the world will respond
Once she learned the trick to getting media attention she realized “this can be my own business”
Her business is catalyst for own growth


The Struggle:

Ashley receives leads that average 5-6 call requests per day, but many schedule a call with her and then don’t followup, ruining her schedule for the day and taking time away from others whom she could be helping instead.


The Breakthrough:

Ashley currently has an open calendar link that allows people to schedule at their convenience throughout the day, and anyone can access that link simply by going to her website. Now that she has so many leads, she needs to begin filtering and setting up boundaries so that only the ones who will value her time and expertise get through to book. Some ideas are:
Time Boundaries: Setting up only 1-2/hrs per day that people can schedule lead calls, and having backup work to do in that time in case they cancel, making sure you decide when calls can get scheduled so as to cause the least interruption in your day
Filters: Not just anyone can book a time directly on your calendar. You can create a system such as first level staff calls or obligatory material review, in addition to some other ideas, so that only really serious candidates ever get on your calendar to begin with
Clear Expectations: In writing, before someone schedules, as well as in an email autoresponse for freebee requesters,  outline what the goal of the call is so only serious people book it to begin with


Quote:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”


Resources and Links:


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About the author, Estie Rand

I love turning ideas into money, and helping others do the same. I help small business owners with everything from marketing to fiscal management, business plans to staffing, database architecture to work/life balance coaching and I love it all! What do you need help with today?

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