073. Tiffany Eurich: Landing Big Press for Your Small Business

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing your business featured in major media outlets like Forbes or NBC, that dream may be closer than you think!

Dr. Tiffany Eurich is a communications strategist and educator for passion-driven entrepreneurs. A former professor and TV personality, she’s helped her clients land features in places like Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens – and now she’s sharing how you can do the same.

In our conversation, you’ll hear about Tiffany’s genius marketing framework, tips for pitching your business to the media, and how you can turn a crowded industry into your secret weapon.

WILDFLOWER SHOWNOTES : shannaskidmore.com/tiffany-eurich

📌 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Get Tiffany’s “Press Kit in a Day” Checklist— Free gift for Wildflowers like you!

What is Your Enough Number? (blog)

Ashlyn Writes: Copywriting Resources for Small Business Owners

PR Bootcamp with Tiffany

Transcript

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Tiffany (00:00):

Going back to that idea that we talked about, that you don't have to do things sort of the traditional way. I offered a service for a while that was a much more traditional kind of agency service. And I had a feeling going into it that, well, I pretty much knew I wasn't going to love it, but it was very successful, but it was also really stressful on my health and I started getting sick. I was stressful all the time. And so a lot of prayer and a lot of discussion and rebuilt those services to fit my lifestyle better. And I think one of the reasons that I was able to do that is because of this concept really, that you had taught me this concept of what is your enough number, looking at what do you need to make? What is that actually going to take? And quite often I think for people, it's a lot less than we expect it's going to be. There's so many people shouting, well, you've got to be a six figure business. And now the popular thing is to be a multi seven figure business. And so you kind of tend to pick a number out of the air like this is how much I'd like to make and it may not have a really strong foundation.

Shanna (01:03):

You are listening to Consider the Wildflowers the podcast episode 73. If you've ever dreamed of seeing your business featured in major media outlets like Forbes or NBC, that dream may be closer to than you think. Dr. Tiffany Urich is a communication strategist and educator for passion-driven entrepreneurs, a former professor and TV personality. She's helped her clients land features in places like real Simple and better homes and Gardens. And now she's sharing how you can do the same. In our conversation, you'll hear about Tiffany's genius marketing framework, tips for pitching your business to the media and how you can turn a crowded industry into your secret weapon. If you dig professional bios, here goes Dr. Tiffany Uric loves the way a well-told story, whether through words or images can change the trajectory of a brand. That's why she created Tiffany Uric Communications, a visibility firm that helps owners of small creative businesses tell their stories through game changing media mentions and by crafting the dynamic visuals that wow customers.

(02:00):

An author artist, former TV personality and university professor. Tiffany has worked with everything from solo endeavors to international luxury brands. Her expertise has been featured in places like Forbes, pr, couture, and CEO Nation, and she's helped clients land features in just about every big publication you can name. When she isn't working with business owners, Tiffany spends her time with family in her garden or working on her ever-growing list of new hobbies. Okay, formal introductions over, let's dive in. Hey, it's Shanna and this is Consider the Wildflowers, the podcast. For the past 15 plus years, I've had the honor to hear thousands of stories from entrepreneurs around the world. As a former Fortune 100 financial advisor turned business consultant, I have a unique opportunity to see the real behind the highlight reel. I'm talking profit and loss statements, unpaid taxes, moments of burnout, and those of utter victory.

(02:50):

Or as my husband says, the content everyone is wondering but not many are talking about. And now I'm bringing these private conversations to you. Hear the untold stories of how industry leaders, founders, and up and coming entrepreneurs got their start, the experiences that shaped them and the journey to building the brands they have today. Stories that will inspire and reignite encourage to redefine success and build a life and business on your own terms. Welcome Wildflower. I'm so glad you're here, Tiffany, darling, I'm so glad we're doing this. It's been just too long since we've caught up. Hi.

Tiffany (03:22):

Hello. It has been way too long. I don't have enough Shanna in my life right now.

Shanna (03:26):

Same. You have such a beautiful voice. Thank you. I love that we're chatting. I love that you were in TV media. You just have such a podcasting

Tiffany (03:39):

Voice. Well, thank you.

Shanna (03:41):

Do people tell you this?

Tiffany (03:43):

I do occasionally hear it, but I had to take classes to help refine my voice as well for that. So that's part of it. But my parents have said, I always, always kind of speak a little bit like that. Anyway.

Shanna (03:56):

That is so funny. I did not think about the fact that you would've had to have taken classes.

Tiffany (04:01):

Yeah, I did. In fact, I took a class one time that was specifically about developing your voice and your presence and there was an exercise that we had to do that had something to do with being an animal. And so I decided to be a turtle and I just sat there, closed it in my shell, I maybe almost fell asleep. And the professor was like, oh, look at what an amazing job she's doing

Shanna (04:29):

That makes me so happy. What a good choice.

Tiffany (04:32):

That's my deep dark secret.

Shanna (04:33):

Did you think about this in advance?

Tiffany (04:35):

No, I did not.

Shanna (04:38):

This is so funny. I have shared this on too many podcasts I'm telling on myself and I'm really shun, but I tell all my podcast guests that I usually say this before we hit record, but I send over the questions because one time was on a podcast and they asked me without prep, if you could be any animal, what animal would you be? And so it just made me think of that

Tiffany (05:03):

One that hibernates

Shanna (05:04):

When you said you were a turtle, I've literally went blank. Tiffany like, name an animal, name an animal, name an animal just like any animal, any

Tiffany (05:13):

Animal will do.

Shanna (05:14):

And I said, A dog, which would so not, I would not

Tiffany (05:19):

Be a dog. No,

Shanna (05:19):

You would not be a dog. And I said, because a dog is a man friend, I have since thought about it. And I was like, I think I'm would be a dolphin. Because they're really fun and playful and they're really smart and intelligent and intelligent, intelligent. And I just thought that would be perfect. But anyways, so that's why now I always send prep questions because I'm like, I don't want to put anybody in. Fantastic. But it's funny, I always go off script and I'm like, I'm sorry.

Tiffany (05:51):

That's okay. The turtle story, I don't think I've ever told anybody that before in public, but it was one of those a strange, it was a theater class and I was not a theater major, but it was one that I had to have for vocal development and broadcast. And so that's perfect. I love, everybody knows

Shanna (06:08):

Now everybody knows T tell us, we're going to record an intro before, but tell us what you do now. But I would really love for you to talk about your background and just life before business.

Tiffany (06:20):

Sure. So, well, as you have guessed, I studied communications and political science in college. Finished that, did my master's, ended up with a PhD in communications and I was a television producer and then a TV personality. So I worked in television news. I also had a travel show, did an interview show. Those were really fun and ended up as a university professor. And so I was a tenured professor and a top ranked university here in the south. And I did that and loved teaching. And in that process got to learn so much about the world of media, podcasting, television, journalism, public relations throughout 20 plus years in the industry. And so that's sort of my background before I started my business.

Shanna (07:05):

And then tell us about your transition into business. What made you want to start your business? Just walk through what you do now.

Tiffany (07:13):

Sure. Well, sometimes when people ask me, when did you know wanted to start a business, truthfully, I can't really tell you. I don't know if it's something I don't think it's something I've always wanted to do, but I can't remember a day that I woke up and I said, I'm going to start a business. It was just a slowly growing process. I grew up in a family that owned a small business and I'm very passionate about small businesses and the role that they play in our economy. And I think that I got to the point as a professor, which as much as I loved the work I was doing, really wanted to be closer to family. I wanted to have some freedom over my schedule to spend time with them. And I was really hoping to move my career into a way that allowed me to use my skills and my knowledge with a little more creativity, a little more, and really gave me greater financial freedom without somebody else telling me, this is as much as you can make, which was something that I just was ready at that season of life to do.

(08:09):

And I had the opportunity to work with small businesses in the town that I lived in. I would develop projects for students where we would create marketing or branding or public relations or just business building projects in the communications realm. So I would pair students with businesses and we would help them kind of create the next step for their business, whether that was branding and web building or social media or whether it was a PR strategy. So I was already doing that in the classroom context and really got a chance to work with a lot of small businesses that way. And it also gave the students a chance to get hands-on work in their field. And I loved that. I loved working in the community that way, but family is also a core value of mine. And you know that about me. My family is everything.

(08:56):

I just adore family and I remember having this thought. In fact, I wrote it down. If I could somehow use the experiences and the knowledge that God has given me to work with families that have businesses in a way that would give them more freedom to spend time with one another and less stress over finances, that would really be ideal. So I started brainstorming, what could I do? And it's actually really interesting. I was listening to a homesteading podcast and in fact, you will probably at some point before this is all over here, some of the animals in the menagerie here on our farm, but I remember this gentleman saying something along the lines of he'd gotten his business grown as far as he could, but he didn't know what to do next to get his business in front of other people. And I remember hearing this podcast and literally saying out loud, I know how to do that.

(09:49):

And so I reached out to him and I said, Hey, can I give you a few tips? And he invited me onto the podcast. And so we talked about this idea of public relations and what that looks like for a small business and just that particular avenue of marketing and that really kind of helped launch the business. And I had just earned tenure at the university after a lot of prayer and talk with family, decided to resign my tenure at the university and start a business full time. And so now I love just getting to work again, like I said, with small businesses specifically in the creative space. And so I run a visibility firm. And so basically I help people get their brands more visible in front of more eyes through a really unused area of public relations and publicity that many small businesses don't even realize that it's something that's accessible to them.

(10:43):

They don't realize that that's an option for a small visit. They think, I'm not a billion dollar brand, I can't get media coverage. And I like to say, Hey, you know what? Being a best kept secret is a great compliment, but it's a terrible business model. So let me show you how to get that billion dollar coverage at a non-bill dollar business level. And so we teach and coach businesses, creative businesses, how to get more eyes on their work. And then as needed, we're able to do media trainings to help them get more comfortable in front of a microphone or the camera. We are able to create content like photography and videography if they need that at a way that we understand their business a little more intimately. So I'm able to create that for them and help them with branding when they're just getting started. And all of that flows out of this area of public relations. And so that's what I do now.

Shanna (11:33):

I love it. Okay, so Tim, tell me about what year did you officially start the business and how did you originally come up with your offers and your pricing? And was it just trial and error you have, I need to replace my salary as a professor? How did you get started in those early years and figuring out exactly what you wanted to offer and how to price it, getting customers and all that?

Tiffany (12:01):

Sure, and I'll be very honest, I had a great ambition and a great heart for it and really not a lot of clarity in how I was going to do that. And so things were kind of all over the place. I took a few months off after the end of the school year just to get my feet under me. I moved back to Texas, started building a website and just learning more about business. And so I really officially launched and had my first client in February of 2020 and we all know what came next. And so things really changed almost overnight. And so it was kind of like, alright, let's keep up with this. And it felt to a certain extent, a little bit like a free fall hoping you were going to land on something that was going to work. But I think my biggest struggle, there were so many things that I could do so much, and that's such a blessing.

(12:56):

So many experiences that I could fall back on to pull from, I felt like I needed to figure out how to do all of them. What I think it was looking back was I had just hit sort of the pinnacle that every person in that career of being a professor wants, and that's tenure. And I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt like I had to justify why I didn't stay with that. And so I needed to figure out how to take all of the things I knew and how to do all of them. I really was, when I look back, I was really rebelling against this idea of narrowing a niche because my thought was, well, when you do less, you reach fewer people. And I understood the concept that a niche brings clarity. I just thought that was for someone else.

(13:39):

And pricing was kind of a guessing game. I cringed every time I gave an estimate. I remember one of my very first clients was actually an international luxury brand, and it was such an unreal moment for me. I've just started my business and here's this client I'm working with, and I remember just sweating bullets over sending them the estimate, the proposal. And so I tried to make this conservative estimate, just was so worried, send it over to them. I got an immediate yes and found out after the fact that I was charging about 10% of what they usually charge for that kind of work.

Shanna (14:15):

Wow.

Tiffany (14:15):

Yeah. And so I had a lot to learn and I think that the turning point for me, the major pivot where I saw a significant shift was that you and I had met, we'd met at the Ilum retreat in 2019 and just you were so precious to me and such a blessing to me, and we became friends and I remember we were FaceTiming, I think just chatting about life and that turned to talk about business. And I was sharing with you that I felt like I was just really struggling to get traction because I was bringing in clients and what I was doing, I was producing great work, but it was kind of all over the place, not knowing when they were going to come from, where they were going to come from, what project they were going to want, and just sort of that lack of focus and clarity and what to do. I remember that you said to me, okay, I want you to make a list of every way you can imagine offering a service within this industry. So I did. I sat down, I took a couple of weeks and I sent it to you. I don't think you were anticipating that I was going to send you a seven page document.

Shanna (15:26):

That was the best. I remember that. I remember.

Tiffany (15:31):

It's like she may be wishing that she had not told me to do that, but you're so kind and so generous with your time. And we sat and chatted about that and paired it down to a three tiered offering. So literally three services all tiered. And it was like the light bulb came on. I knew how to talk about my offerings, I knew who they were for how to reach that kind of client. I had a much stronger sense of how to market that. And that was a major turning point.

Shanna (15:59):

I love that. Tiffany. What is so interesting, I had another interview earlier today and I was talking about the person I was interviewing teaches about money and investing as well, which is really cool. And she's fully self-taught, and I was like, and I'm coming from this blank. I have a degree in this and 15 years of experience. And I was like, sometimes when a subject so well it actually, and I don't know if this is how you felt in your experience, it becomes very hard because all the what ifs, you know, well, this is this way or this could be that way, or what about this doing it that way? It's so hard

Tiffany (16:38):

Absolutely

Shanna (16:39):

To pare it down. And I wonder, yeah, coming from your extensive experience in this field that probably in some ways makes it even more challenging to pare down your offers and to niche and to only offer a very limited amount of what you could do.

Tiffany (16:58):

Absolutely.

Shanna (17:01):

That's so hard.

Tiffany (17:03):

But that was such a helpful thing for me to just sit down and it was like the concept of niche clicked and it was like, okay, I get it. It's not that I can't do these other things. It's not that I'll never have the chance to build or expand, but to start and to get some traction, we need to start somewhere. And so that starting somewhere gave us those three offerings that week. I stripped my website, I rebuilt it, I built a pricing structure that made a lot more sense, albeit still on the low side. I struggle with that a little bit, but it made so much more sense. And in that process, I launched my signature service, which is called the PR bootcamp. And that's been such an interesting process to build and refine that because it has filled an empty space in the industry.

(17:44):

People in my field said it would not work. They said people won't go for that. And it has helped brands jump into new levels of visibility. And basically what we do is we take the concept of publicity and just break down smoke and mirrors around it, make it accessible for a small brand to get major media coverage. And I love that because it's not a traditional way to go about doing pr, but it lets me really stand in the strengths that God has given me. I love teaching. I'm really skilled at synthesizing big concepts and trends and changing landscapes, then distilling those into simple, straightforward strategies much like you do with finance. I love being able to do that in the marketing world. And I get to walk alongside clients for a long time as they build their creative endeavors, those clients become friends. I recently got an email from one of my very first bootcamp clients to tell me that she'd been picked up as a regular contributor to a major international publication.

(18:42):

And I get texts and emails like that from pretty much all of my bootcamp clients. And that has just been such a neat experience to say, you know what? There is a traditional way that things are done and I don't have to fit into that mold. And I think once I realized that through those conversations and you and I talking and just a lot of prayer and a lot of wisdom being poured into my life from different advisors and people who know me well, realizing that I don't have to do things the way they've always traditionally been done opens up a whole new world of possibilities. And I'm so thankful for that.

Shanna (19:17):

Tiffany, this has been a light bulb moment for me because I feel this so much and I have never been able to put it in words. And it's just so interesting that I had this conversation earlier with someone else who teaches about money coming from a fully self-taught perspective versus me with education. It's hard to break free of, but it's supposed to be this way. Exactly. And you're supposed to do it, but it's like that's not often how people learn, and that's not often how people see impact, particularly on the money side. I always say, for instance, debt reduction. There's this idea that you should, in the finance world, what makes sense is to pay your highest interest rate debt first. That's what makes sense. You're paying higher interest. But psychologically, a lot of people talk about the paying the smallest balance first. It's like, well psychologically when you see that progress, it keeps you going.

(20:18):

So it is been really cool for me. Now, this will be our 11th year in business, which is so amazing. Wow. Just to get better. I feel like I'm getting better at seeing impact in our students and clients because I'm breaking free of it doesn't have to be this way. In fact, that might not be the best way for people to learn or see success. So it's just so cool to hear you talk about this because it's like this light bulb moment for me of watching you're such an expert in your industry and having to relearn These guys are really great at something or works in academia, you're now applying it to real world

Tiffany (20:58):

And things don't always move from the textbook into real life the way you think they should. It's not always neat and tidy.

Shanna (21:04):

Yeah. I literally wrote down, what have you seen to be the difference between teaching this type of work to being in the field to see success for your clients?

Tiffany (21:16):

Oh, what a good question. I've thought about that sort of abstractly, but no one's ever asked me that question specifically. I think probably the biggest inference is when you're in the classroom, it's a controlled environment. It's a laboratory. And even when you have real clients per se, that you are working on projects with your students, they always have the understanding that, hey, this is a student, so we need to let them kind of work at their own pace or give them a little bit of grace as they're figuring this out. And so it's very much a controlled environment. And so you teach a lot of theory. As much as you would like to talk about every possibility and potentiality in the classroom because of time in the nature of a classroom environment, you really have to boil it down to best practices in theory. And I remember telling my students every semester, I'm teaching you best practices, so I'm teaching you how it should work.

(22:11):

Or if all things are working well, this is what it's going to look like, but you need to know that it's not always going to look like best practices out in the field. It's messier than that. And I had worked in the field before I taught, but kind of in a different context. And then coming back out of the classroom into the field again, that really hit again hard that in the classroom it is, it's a controlled environment. It's very theoretical. It's always if things work perfectly, this is the way they should work and here's case studies. But then to actually be out there and in the midst of it and doing it every day, having to make decisions on the fly when you have the options you have, are neither one of them what you learned in the classroom about how things should work, what's the wisest course of action, what's going to benefit the client best in this situation? And things move a lot faster in the field than they do in the classroom, which you would imagine. But also the flip side of that is that when you're teaching, you realize that you can only go so far in helping this really hit home. And when those students, or again, for myself actually get to working with clients, it's so much more rewarding because you're seeing, you're gaining knowledge in the university setting, but you're gaining wisdom I think, in the real world application of it. Oh,

Shanna (23:28):

I love that. Gaining knowledge and gaining wisdom. Oh, that's so good. Okay. I have one more kind of industry question that's not on the script, and then we're going to go back to your journey. I know we talked about this a little bit before just you and I, but you started your business officially in 2020. And like you just mentioned, the landscape is always changing in the field. It moves really fast. So how have you seen marketing pr, just the industry changes with the changes in social media or are people still doing blogs and publications and influencer marketing? Have there been any things that have really stuck out to you? Maybe I kind of want to know what used to work and what isn't working anymore, what's working, just the changes in the last few years?

Tiffany (24:24):

Absolutely. And Shannon, that's a fantastic question and it's one that I wish more people would ask more often. I can say this without exaggeration that I have seen more fundamental ground level shifts and changes in the industry in the last four years than I did in the 20 years before that. And social media with the advent of social media, it changed my industry in ways that no one could have anticipated even two years, four years, five years before that. And so I remember thinking, wow, this is major, but what has happened in the last four years has just been phenomenal. And I was talking about that with someone this morning. Just the businesses, the changes I have seen in businesses over the last couple of years have been staggering and extraordinary and the pace at which marketing is changing. So yes, the short answer is it's changed dramatically. But in terms of what is working now or isn't working now, one of the things that I think has really hurt a lot of businesses, and I know you and I've talked about this, is a reliance on social media as your main form of marketing. So if you'll indulge me for just a moment to have a, please give us

Shanna (25:41):

Your knowledge,

Tiffany (25:42):

Sort of a pedantic moment if you will. But I like to look at marketing sort of as a five fingered process, if you will. And I teach people to remember this by the acronym ropes. And so what I like to think about in terms of marketing is you have shared media. That's media where you have no control over the platform or how your content is distributed. So you create your content, but after that you post it on Instagram or YouTube or TikTok or something like that. And you have very little control over how it is distributed or interacted with. You have paid media and paid media are paid ads. You have a lot of control over those in terms of what it's going to look like and how it's going to be distributed. And when you run out of money for that, you run out of ads.

(26:28):

Basically you've got what we call earned media, and that's really where I specialize in. That's things like publicity, that's where someone else is featuring. You have very little control over how and when it happens, but there's huge payout when you do land it. And I think because people perceive that as being real high effort or chancy or something like that, they don't go for it, but there's actually systems to make it very reliable to get earned media. And then you've got relational media, and that's what I like to think of in terms of word of mouth and testimonials, those kinds of things. So that's the relational side of things where people have worked with you and they're giving you feedback or they're encouraging other people to come work with you. And then owned media and owned media, I don't think I said that is where you own your own content, you produce your content and you have control over the distribution of it.

(27:21):

So that's a blog, that's email content, that's your website. And so I like to think of marketing in those five areas. And when you take any one of those areas and do a standalone marketing strategy there, so let's say that you're just going to take shared media, so social media, you're just going to concentrate your marketing there. It's kind of that concept of putting all of your eggs in one basket. And I like to tell people that doing Instagram and Instagram reels, that's really not a strategy, that's a tactic. It's one part of a bigger strategy. But if you adopt a tactic as a strategy, you're very likely going to have struggles with it down the road. It may work for a while, but as things change, it won't work anymore and you won't have other opportunities to lean onto because you won't have built a framework to work in all of those different areas.

(28:11):

And so social media is one of those big changes when we talk about what used to work and what anyone who's on Instagram just knows this anecdotally from their own experience, that Instagram isn't like what it used to be. And that wasn't like what it used to be before that. And so when you are building a marketing strategy solely on social media, it's like building on someone else's real estate. And I didn't come up with that illustration, but it's very accurate. It's like building your house on somebody else's land and when they make changes to the land or they sell it, you're kind of out of luck. And so when algorithms change or when the emphasis on the kind of media changes from pictures to reels to stories to whatever, your businesses going to struggle, that's the only place that you've built your marketing strategy.

(28:54):

And so that's one of the big changes I've seen is social media. And I think as you and I were talking about earlier, that's one of those areas that if you have built your entire business there, you're probably suffering right now. There's a very good chance that you are struggling to get the word out to your clients. So that's one. I think that podcasting has been interesting. I think podcasting, a lot of people don't realize that podcasting is as old as it is. We had sort of the first wave of podcasts, they kind of disappeared for a while. They became really popular again in the early 20 teens, then kind of saturated. And I'm seeing another wave of interest in podcasts right now. And so I think the challenge with a podcast is building an audience. It's a little more challenging, takes a little more strategic effort as I'm sure to get a podcast to stand out in the market right now. The flip side of that is that there's some incredible content that way. YouTube, same kind of situation. There've been waves of interest in YouTube. And it's fun when you look at the background statistics and the analytics of that because they used to say, you need to make 25 great YouTube videos before you start to see traction. And then it was like 42, the most recent one I think I heard was like, now you need to do like 72

Shanna (30:10):

Oh Mercy

Tiffany (30:11):

YouTube videos before you expect to see any kind of traction. And I think that's been a big one. Is it any kind of media outlet like that you're needing to be more consistent, more diligent, just to a certain extent kind of riding the waves out to see who lasts, who is consistent and can take the time and be patient and diligent and consistent to gain an audience. But I would say all things equally, really the biggest determining factor that I see in what works and what doesn't is consistency. It's showing up, doing the work, being there when you say you're going to be there, even when nobody else is, until they start to come. And we live in a culture that doesn't like to wait. We want that instant gratification. And I think that's what makes it challenging for so many businesses is they don't want to stick it out until the audiences are there.

(31:01):

But on the flip side, I think paid advertising through social is really interesting and intriguing. The way that they are adapting and adjusting the way that you can target specific audiences even more specifically, I think that owned media, working on SEO, creating your own content is always going to be an asset. I think that's always going to help you get found. I think email is very effective. We have lots of statistics that show us that email is very effective. And so in my own industry, there was a major shift in 2021 that unless you were sort of in that industry, you probably would never have known about it. But some of the major media outlets that own a huge number of outlets and publications made significant changes to their financial structures. And so the idea of affiliate marketing became really central in the industry where it really had not been before. And so if you sell a product or a book or whatever, will the media outlet get a kickback if they feature you? And so that was a major change in my industry. And so I think affiliate marketing is going to continue to grow significantly as well. Yeah,

Shanna (32:12):

Yeah. Well, thank you for that mini course. And that's so Tiffany, your brain is just so helpful. And I think that has been the biggest shift I have seen, as I mentioned, this will be our 11th year in business, what 15th or 16th year in finance, but just how much louder it's gotten in this small business space. And I think everybody's like, oh, we all feel that, but I think we can rise above it and encourage each other. And I love a couple things that you said, just consistency. It is about long game. Who's going to keep showing up in an instant gratification world? I think that's really interesting to hear from you. But yeah, just not for anybody listening, not getting discouraged, it is so noisy and it feels hard. Can I ask you one other question? I'm Tiffany, I'm just picking your brain over here. Well,

Tiffany (33:07):

You are welcome to, and I apologize, I apologize for rambling.

Shanna (33:12):

Interested about the amount of consumable content, how that has affected the PR marketing space. I mean the amount of blogs, podcasts, YouTube, social media channels, influencers. Do you see your industry reacting or how are you coaching small businesses differently based on just that sheer amount of available content?

Tiffany (33:41):

It is staggering, isn't it? Yes.

Shanna (33:43):

Yes, it truly is.

Tiffany (33:46):

Actually, that creates something of an advantage to the small business owner because it means that there are that many more opportunities. So one of the things that I like to coach people in is this idea is understanding that the media industry works in terms of a financial system. They quite often are either making money, traditionally they've been making money on advertising. Now there's a lot more in terms of affiliate fees that come in. But still advertising is an important part of the financial structure of most media outlets, whether it's your traditional huge television station or newspaper or a really big online outlet or even a big blog, even to the smallest blogs in podcasts, they've got to make money somehow. And so if you are not paying to consume that content, it means the money's coming from somewhere else and most likely it's coming from advertising of some form.

(34:41):

And so what that means is that advertising fees are charged based on how many people are reading the content. So the more people that are reading the content, the more they can charge to sell ads in that space. That's just the way it works. And so if they can get more and interesting content, they can charge more for advertising or have more affiliate fees, that kind of thing that's coming in. So it's a great revenue boost for them to have more content, to have interesting content to find those out of the way businesses that nobody's heard of and to discover them. But at the same time, because there is this proliferation of content, there are fewer people that have to do more work. And so we've seen that across the industry for a couple of decades, but especially over the last couple of years, fewer people have to produce more content. And so if you have in your mind this idea that that reporter or producer or whatever is out hitting the pavement, doing the interviews, like the old movies, that's how it works. They pretty much are behind a computer all the time. And so if you know how to package up the story of your business or your product and pitch it to them in the right way, you can literally hand them a story on a silver platter with a little bow type tied around it and you've done the work for them,

Shanna (35:55):

Thank you for it

Tiffany (35:56):

And they will thank you for it. So if you know how to go about doing that, this proliferation of content is actually to the advantage of the small business owner.

Shanna (36:04):

So interesting. I love that reframe. Yes, Tiffany, that's so cool. I interrupted you, I think, but I just was like, that was such an aha moment of I love that sometimes we think noise and we tend to be, or I don't want to say anybody else. Sometimes I'm like, ah, there's so much noise, so much competition. But really that could turn out to be the best thing. Yeah.

Tiffany (36:26):

So one of the first things that we teach a business to do is to do a SWOT analysis. And that's just an old term from the industry where you look at your strengths, your weaknesses, your opportunities, and your threats. And one of the things that I love to tell a business and to remind them our business owner, is that when you look at a weakness or a threat, very seldom is it actually truly a weakness or a threat. Most often what you've just done is identified a place where you can really stand out, where you can make a few tweaks, put a little effort into it and really stand out. And so when we think about the noise, and I think when you said it's just loud, I think that's such a wonderful way to put it. It feels very loud. My inbox feels like it's screaming at me every day, but when you look at a world that feels loud and feels noisy, how can we take that threat if we will, to our business and reframe it so that it's an advantage? So how can we maximize those opportunities to actually help our business stand out? And that's just learning a system and learning a new skillset.

Shanna (37:25):

This has been so good, Tiffany, and just really affirms that we need to go take the PR bootcamp from you,

(37:34):

But I want to bring it back. Let's bring it back to Tiffany, your story, your growth, and particularly maybe the money side too. And I think this is one of those moments with what you're talking about where sometimes money gets kind of an icky kind of a bad rap. These big publications they have to make money to or the free podcast, they're making money through ads or advertising like Money Makes the World go around that whole idea that we all, I think a lot of us push against, but seeing that once you understand that and see exactly what you said, these publications are now producing more content with the same amount of manpower that could be to our advantage. Absolutely. And getting the word out. Tell me, after starting your business, this is fourth year in, have you seen any major shifts or pivots in your own business either with your offers, your pricing, the audience you're targeting and that makes it look more like it does today?

Tiffany (38:40):

Sure. So one of the things, going back to that idea that we talked about, that you don't have to do things sort of the traditional way. I offered a service for a while that was a much more traditional kind of agency service. And I had a feeling going into it that I, well, I pretty much knew I wasn't going to love it, but it was very successful, but it was also really stressful on my health and I started getting sick. I was stressful all the time. And so a lot of prayer and a lot of discussion and rebuilt those services to fit my lifestyle better. And I think one of the reasons that I was able to do that is because of this concept really, that you had taught me this concept of what is your enough number looking at what do you need to make to pay your bills, to pay your taxes, to pay your business expenses and your living expenses, those kinds of things.

(39:35):

What is that actually going to take? And quite often I think for people, it's a lot less than we expect it's going to be. For some people it may be more, but I think that sometimes when we start a business, we have, there's so many people shouting, you've got to be a six figure basis. And now the popular thing is to be a multi seven figure business. And so you kind of tend to pick a number out of the air, this is how much I'd like to make and it may not have a really strong foundation. And so being able to go back and look at, well, what is the enough number and then in addition to that, what I want to be able to save or how do I want to be able to use this money? And then looking at what do I offer and what do I need to do with that offer in order?

(40:16):

How much of that do I need to sell in order to make those numbers? And when you look at it, you go, oh, I could make some pretty significant changes here and be good to go. And so understanding that enough number was really central to being able to reshape those offers to what it looks like more today. And so I would say that that enough number, if you've never taken the time to sit down and do that, that's what I would say to the community here. If you have never sat down and really done the hard work of looking at how much you're spending, where you're spending, what your costs are, what your taxes are, if it seems daunting at all, it is absolutely worth it because the peace of mind that comes from that, just having a tangible number that, and if you haven't done it in a while, it'd be a good idea to do it again so that you can do that.

(41:03):

I love it. In terms of my relationship with money, I know that you and I've talked about this, I've always had a natural tendency to be a saver, and I always tend to run lean on expenses, and so that's been a blessing in the business just to have that kind of as an undercurrent in the way that I have a relationship with finances anyway, it's given me a lot of flexibility to really be able to look and see what is the return on investment on this if I'm going to spend money here or spend money there, in some cases, this is a really good investment. I'm spending money to make money in other places. This is fun, but really not necessary at this stage in business. And so rather than go out and just at the beginning pour money into everything, I was very conscientious about that as I was building the business and as I have gone through the years of the business, it has really taught me more about where to spend and where to save and the importance of really understanding that return on investment.

Shanna (41:59):

Yeah, that's so good. Two things that are near and dear to my heart. What is your enough number and for new one listening, I have a blog post. I'll post it in the show notes, but you can Google how to calculate your enough number and it walks you through that. So love that, Tiffany, you brought that up. I do that once a year and sit down and just know. It gives me peace of mind. How much do we truly need to make to run the business and maintain our lifestyle? And it's so helpful, and I love that you talked about running your business lean and maybe even not, lean is maybe the wrong word, but with intentionality. I always think the idea of a budget, it feels very restrictive and a lot of nos, but I love how you have gone into and how I try to teach finance of being intentional with the way that you spend that is a budget, but it's just intentionality in your spending and I love that so much. What would you say Tiffany is the best thing you have learned about money?

Tiffany (42:56):

It doesn't satisfy. It's only when we understand that it's God who provides for us and he gives us money as a resource to steward, to use it wisely and to bless others. I think when we really have a great relationship with money,

Shanna (43:08):

I love it. Okay, I'm going to jump ahead to our last, but I want to make sure I ask this before we go to a quick fire in a world that asks us to do everything well, and I know you've talked about how much family is a value of yours, a core value. How have you found harmony these last few years of growing your business and just maintaining the life you want with business growth?

Tiffany (43:36):

So can I give you my hot take that's kind of unpopular?

Shanna (43:39):

Yes, please. Always.

Tiffany (43:42):

So in a world that asks us to do it all, well just to do all of it and do all of it. Well,

(43:48):

We don't have to. I think we talked about that idea of instant gratification, but I think we have bought into this idea that because we can be good at a lot of things, we should be doing all of them and all of them at the same time. Otherwise we aren't maximizing our potential or something like that. I think that when we can step back and take a bigger view of life and what is truly important that we will see quite often that building a beautiful legacy in our life is about doing with excellence. The work that is set right in front of us right now, it's about doing the seemingly mundane things and doing those well. It's understanding what your top priority should be in this season and then learning to live with some delayed gratification.

Shanna (44:32):

Oh, good. Man. I just want to keep talking to you. I cannot believe we have already been chatting and our time is almost up, so let's go into a quick fire. I'm grateful for you. Thank you for letting me pick your brain so much about just your expertise. You're so good and knowledgeable,

Tiffany (44:48):

You're so kind. Thank you for letting me ramble.

Shanna (44:51):

It was really good. Okay, let's quick fire. What is the one thing you would be embarrassed if people knew?

Tiffany (44:58):

Apparently it's that one time I pretended to be a turtle and got an A on that assignment. Who knew?

Shanna (45:04):

I truly had

Tiffany (45:04):

Not thought of that in 20 years. That

Shanna (45:06):

Is so funny. I wonder what prompted that idea.

Tiffany (45:10):

I have no idea.

Shanna (45:12):

Number two, any regrets or wish you could do over moments?

Tiffany (45:16):

Yeah, so I love learning. That's one of my strengths and I think it's a wonderful trait, but it also, I have learned can be a means of productive procrastination. So in terms of business, I would've moved out of the consuming information phase and moved into the doing much faster.

Shanna (45:32):

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. Yes, I think so many can get, I love how you said productive procrastination. Sometimes you just got to go do. Yeah, yeah, that's good. All right. A big win or pinch me moment.

Tiffany (45:47):

Okay, so the first client, that first client that sent me a check, that was pretty amazing. It was like, oh, hey, this can work. I got to work with an HT TV star and a food network chef. Those are pretty cool. But you know what my biggest pinch me moment was, and this will make you laugh, okay, one time Ashlyn Carter used my sales page as an example of something that was a delight to read, and that was probably my biggest pinch me moment in business ever.

Shanna (46:12):

I love Ashlyn also because I have always, I don't know if I told you this, the line and you shared it earlier, being a best kept secret is a great compliment, but not a good business plan. I was like, that is such strong copy, so I'm not surprised that actually featured you. Thank

Tiffany (46:30):

You. I actually said that out loud to somebody one time. I was just going, Hey, you know what you keep saying no, you don't want to do this. No, you won't do this. And I said, you're best kept secret, and that's a great compliment. That is a terrible business model. And it kind of stuck. It

Shanna (46:42):

Stuck it so strong. It stuck strong. That hit me in the face in the best way. Yes, you needed to hear this right now. I love it. Okay. Best advice or just really good advice?

Tiffany (46:51):

Can I give you two?

Shanna (46:53):

Yes.

Tiffany (46:53):

Okay. So there is always, always time to be in God's word. Everything else will fall in place if you make that a priority. And that's my mom. And the second best piece of advice, make list gruffy and prioritize from Jungle Jam and Friends of the Radio Show.

Shanna (47:09):

Wait, what? Say the second one again. Oh, I got lost with List Gruffy,

Tiffany (47:14):

Make List, gruffy and Prioritize. It's from a radio, children's radio show that I listened to as a kid called Jungle Jam and Friends.

Shanna (47:20):

What does that mean?

Tiffany (47:22):

It just means anytime that you are working through a project or have to make a decision, make a list and prioritize it, and I do that to this day

Shanna (47:30):

And Gruffy is a character. Yeah, make a list Gruffy and prioritize. And prioritize. I love it. I'm so obsessed. That's so fun. What was the show called?

Tiffany (47:42):

Jungle Jam and Friends, the

Shanna (47:43):

Radiation. All right, I love it. That's good. It stuck with you.

Tiffany (47:48):

It did, and that's how I ended up in the communications industry anyway. I thought I was going to be, well, going back to my voice, a voice for Adventures and Odyssey or other children's radio programs that I loved listening to and who knew that this was the path the Lord was going to take me down.

Shanna (48:01):

This is so fun. Gosh, that's amazing. Okay, last quick fire. What are you working on now or one resource that you would like to share?

Tiffany (48:09):

Sure. So when the Wildflowers Community, here's this podcast, I will have already opened applications for the 2024 PR bootcamp slots. I'm really excited to see the results we're going to get from that, and if there are any business owners listening who want to get a tiny taste of that or just want to spend a little bit of time giving their brand some polish and a competitive advantage in the marketplace, I'd love to gift them with my press kit in a day checklist. This is the same process that we work through with all of our clients and the press kit in a day checklist walks you through how to create an attention ready press kit so that you can maximize or create those visibility opportunities and just look really polished.

Shanna (48:48):

I love it, Tiffany. I love that press kit in a day checklist, but I do, I want you to speak on this for just a second. I have no doubt that there are people listening that think, I'm not ready for that yet. My brand isn't big enough, my audience isn't big enough. What would you just say to anyone who may think no one would be interested

Tiffany (49:08):

In your story?

Shanna (49:10):

Me and my work? Yeah. I have to be bigger, I have to do more. I have to be flat. You know what I'm saying?

Tiffany (49:16):

Yeah. So I would say flip that script in your head rather than waiting till you're bigger to start to look really polished to start to think ahead towards those opportunities. Start thinking ahead to those opportunities now. Create a brand right now that has that elevated feel to it already. Get a press kit ready so that as you grow and those opportunities come, you're ready for them. I think that when your mom says, Hey, dress up to take your test because if you dress up, you'll do better on your test. I kind of think businesses sort of work the same way. Start the way you mean to go on. So if you want to be an elevated, a polished business, a brand, a successful business, start thinking of yourself and treating that business that way from day one. And so people ask me that all the time.

(50:08):

They say, no one would be interested in what I have to say. Well, how do you know? It's so often that the thing that is so easy or simple to us, how often do we find that that's where our business grows? The thing that's so simple to us, we don't even think about it, is mystifying to somebody else. And so you may not be able to see the story in your business. That's one of my favorite things to do with business owners is to help them identify the story that they can't see for themself. I just finished working with a client, an amazing client, who is actually getting ready to release her first cookbook and at the end of our bootcamp she said, I was hoping that I was going to learn how to get into my local newspaper or even maybe my local TV program.

(50:53):

She said, I didn't realize that there was so much wealth in my story to pull from, and she said, it's like the horizon has just been blown up and expanded. She said, I could get national attention for this and didn't even realize that it was that interesting, and I think sometimes it just takes somebody coming alongside you and seeing what you can't see, but I've never worked with the company or with the business owner that didn't have something of interest, some kind of interesting story to tell. So treat your business the way that you want it to be in the end. If you want it to be a big business, treat it like one. If you want to be a CEO, act like that from day one.

Shanna (51:29):

Yeah, so good. Tiffany, you have dropped so many nuggets of marketing, but just psychological wisdom and belief in ourselves because I don't know if anybody else listening, I think I am, my biggest in between my own ears is what needs the most,

Tiffany (51:49):

The case for so many of us,

Shanna (51:50):

And it's like if I can convince myself that I have something good to share, I think it would be way easier to share that with other people. So

Tiffany (52:00):

Yeah, that's so good. If Shanna, who literally changes people's lives and the trajectory of their businesses and their families struggles with that, then how much more the rest of us, when you have so much proof to be able to look at and you still struggle with that, then I think that's true of probably every business owner.

Shanna (52:20):

The work you do is amazing. Tiffany, let's send this off. I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful for your heart and who you are and what you're doing for small business owners. I'm just thank you for your time today and I want to send it off with giving you a chance to look back at the day you turned down your tenure and walked away from teaching in that capacity to start your own business. What would you tell yourself on day one?

Tiffany (52:49):

Well, first thank you so much for letting me come and just share this. Your community is precious and I'm honored to have the opportunity to share of this with them, but if I could tell myself on day one, I would say don't be afraid of the time it's going to take. Be consistent, be diligent, and trust the Lord's going to direct your steps.

Shanna (53:08):

I love it. Thank you, Tiffany.

Tiffany (53:10):

Thank you, Shanna.

Shanna (53:12):

Hey, wildflower, you just finished another episode of Consider the Wildflowers, the podcast. Head over to consider the wildflowers podcast.com for show notes, resource links, and to learn how you can connect with Tiffany. If you are a small business owner looking for a big press, Tiffany has put together a special and free PDF just for the Wildflower listeners like you. Head to Tiffany urick.com/wildflowers to download Tiffany's press kit in a day checklist. One final thought for today from Earl Nightingale. Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass. Anyway, as always, thank you for listening. I'll see you next time.