Weird, Wild, Wooly and Wonderful Stories of IPSM Public Relations
By Kathie Taylor
The work we do is truly a labor of love. Love for the strategy and the research (self-professed data geek, here!) the planning and the flawless execution of tactics you get from all that research and planning…. It’s like glitter to unicorns.
But we don’t just sit at our desks all day doing those things. Much of what we do is in the field – literally. Like when I checked in on a client the morning after attending a Cattlemen’s Association dinner with them, I ended up lending a hand branding cattle with them.
It’s a dirty job, and I’m so happy I got to do it!
From spending days and days on working ranches, I’ve learned the hard work, and the never-get-a-day-off life of ranchers and food producers. I’ve uncovered dozens of stories by simply asking the question “why?”.
It’s all about the relationships
Public relations is exactly that – relations. Building, nurturing, sustaining relationships and connecting people are everyday occurrences in our line of work. And it leads to some of our most memorable and meaningful moments, like hanging off the handle of the neck squeezer thing on the cattle chute so each cow could be bug sprayed, inoculated, and branded.
Like when our CEO, Renee Plain, donned firefighting gear and climbed up a 3-story ladder during a training day at a condemned casino to get the best photos of the day.
Or when she flew over Carson City collecting video for the Mayor’s big speech in a tiny plane on a rough flying day.
Being your trusted advisor
Former Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell was among our luminary, legendary clients and has a huge place in our hearts. From his massive sweet tooth to his wicked sense of humor and his absolute clarity on how to be an ethical, compassionate leader, he was a giant, a dear friend and an irreplaceable mentor.
We were his trusted advisors; we knew the tone he wanted to strike in every speech and the issues that were important to him. He never said no when we asked him to appear somewhere or talk to someone. We never asked anything unreasonable, and only asked when it was a benefit to his constituents (check him out in our superhero movie!).
He listened. He asked. He honored. We listened. We asked. We honored. Those are the kinds of relationships we build.
What are the weird, wild, wooly and wonderful PR stories you want to tell?
Much of what we do is tell BIG stories for small businesses, and to get the story, you sometimes get to do things you wouldn’t necessarily associate with “an office job”, including:
- Getting published in the New York Post’s “Weird but True” column for our creative approach to student recruitment while on a Fractional Communications Specialist contract with our land-grant University (the “Weird!)
- Ride alongs with our HVAC client’s technicians after sitting with dispatch to get to know the full measure of their business so we could tell the honest, authentic truth about HVAC service.
- Mucking around in pastures and barns, witnessing the miracle of new life with piggies and lambs and calves, and the sacrifice they make to feed our communities. I have special boots just for this client.
- Making a superhero movie on the streets of Carson City.
- Working with the region’s best chefs to teach teenagers cooking classes.
- Taking a pottery wheel class.
- Working events to help unhoused people and their pets.
The fun part about all of this is that we find stories wherever we go. No matter how big or how small your business is, it has BIG stories, and we want to tell them!
How do we get to YOUR story?
We take a holistic look at your business – what you do, why you do it, whom you serve and why you serve them – to really understand your business, your buyers and potential buyers and all the other stakeholders who matter to you. We become trusted advisors to you and your stakeholders.
We find the threads and pull them – it’s how a high school project ended up displayed at the Nevada State Museum because we asked the questions “why” and “then what happens?”
We take the answers to those questions and apply what we learn to develop a marketing and public relations plan tailored to you and your business, so your stories resonate with your buyers and potential buyers.
We get you!
We learn the pain points, the joys and the challenges of running your business. We’re business owners too, up to our eyeballs in all the same things you are doing to run your business. We get it. We get you.
Check out some of our favorite, award-winning stories we’ve told on behalf of our clients, and you’ll begin to see the power of telling YOUR story.
Then schedule a call with Renee to get started!
P.S. We’d love to work with you, and the best way to move forward is to say, “Yes! I will devote time and attention to my marketing and public relations to ensure the best possible results!”
Great marketing and PR don’t happen in a vacuum. All of the work we do works because we partner with you. You are your company’s biggest advocate and its biggest asset in telling your story. Together, we are unstoppable!