Doing my own PR campaign

My newly launched organic skincare business, Inner-Soul Organics, is on a tight budget. This is because we had our house pretty much gutted (it needed it!) a year ago. Then A's 12 year old marketing business began to take a slide, which has all meant that my launch budget has been halved.

I spent 7 months building my website in between making sure everyone had broccoli with dinner, sorting out label design and finding out whether my packaging can be recycled, (it can).

After the website launch in August, there was the sound of tumbleweed and an eery breeze through our house, where online orders should have been. So I decided a PR campaign was in order. I have written poems before, but never a press release. So I collared a mum at school's husband (another A) to help me out. He kindly gave me an hour, during which time I learned exactly what to write.

"Start with local press," he said, and "don't be afraid to approach internet mags."

This'll be easy, I told myself. Wrong.

I have now sent off a total of 33 press releases and three weeks down the line, I've managed to procure a free gift box giveaway via a not-very-glossy magazine. And this wasn't even because of my outstanding writing. I got this via a free trial of Response Source, which I would highly recommend and is basically a pool for journalists to put out an e-mail about what they are researching. The downside is that my weeks' trial runs out in 3 days and the service usually costs £350 plus VAT annually. Boo.

Anyway, on a more positive note, I had a meeting with the Katie Piper Foundation yesterday and have secured a partnership with their 'One Club' which basically means for every product sold, the Foundation gets £1. I've always admired Katie and her determination and will also enjoy returning to my former glory as an aromatherapist by giving massages to beneficiaries of the Foundation at their next workshop in November.

My husband says I'm green, that I'm only just learning the harsh ways of the corporate world. I think what I'm learning most is that the free things are usually worth more.