Meet The Member - Pip Dawes From Marlo Wine🍾

So I can bang on and on about how I can give you the knowledge and confidence to DIY your PR. But the proof is in the PR pudding right?

Well let me introduce you to Pip Dawes - co-founder of the very brilliant Marlo. Pip has been a member of my DIY PR membership from the very early days and has got some amazing results for her business including Stylist, Daily Telegraph, The Week and House & Garden (to name but a few!) 

So I thought she would be a great one to start my new "Meet the Member" series of interviews, where you can get advice from fellow small biz owners, entrepreneurs and innovators about how they've done their PR themselves.  

Tell us about your business - what do you do?

Marlo is a luxury online wine store. With years of experience in the wine trade we wanted to make fine wines accessible to all, so we curated a list of our favourite wines and sell it by the bottle. We wrap and pack our wines in our signature packaging, which is both beautiful and sustainable, making Marlo brilliant for treating yourself or spoiling someone else. 

You’ve generated some amazing PR for your business yourself - what are you most proud of?

I feel very proud of the brand that we are creating. The PR helps to cement the brand, but having a strong brand in the first place makes the PR easier - people are starting to recognise the brand and that is exciting. I love the biographical pieces, they help you to explain the why and the how, which makes it more personal, such as our recent piece in Sheerluxe that The PR Set helped us to bag! 

How have you found DIY-ing your PR?

It is daunting, but I have found that if I try not to overthink it then I get way more responses. If you live and breathe your brand it becomes easy to fire off passionate pieces about what you are doing. I think, thanks to Pippa and The PR Set, I have a much greater understanding of how to make the journalists life easy by giving them what they want and when they need it.

What impact can you see the PR having on your business?

Sometimes it is hard to quantify, but good PR validates the business and makes the brand authentic. We get enquiries from people who have read pieces that we have featured in, so it shows that it can be instantly impactful. But by plugging away and trying to remain in the public eye there is always a subliminal reminder that we are here!

What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve received?

Be ready to pivot when the wind changes direction. Don’t keep pushing when your gut instincts tell you it’s not working. Be adaptable and be ready for change at any moment.

What advice would you give people who want to do PR for their business?

Get a subscription to The PR Set, listen to the lessons online and most of all try not to overthink it. If you have a great business then shout about it, but make sure you are shouting about it in the right places and to the right people.

What’s your favourite bit about being an entrepreneur?

The variety of the role, from cleaning the staff loos ( I’ve just done this), to going on fun photo shoots. There are so many highs and just as many lows, but at least every day is different, and ultimately your focus is building your brand, making sales, and thinking up every which way to do this.

And the worst? 

The worst bit are the quiet sales days, or the failed projects. But you learn so much from these. We had gift hampers that didn’t sell. We paid for stock and it’s heart-breaking to see it wasted, but then we’ve gained so much experience from these failures.

Can you bust a PR myth for us?

Get yourself out there, talk to people and network. Yes, great articles are exciting, but ultimately building your network is just as important. People start to recommend you. So, enter awards, engage on social media, and attend events. 

Also, some journalists can be scary, others are the nicest people in the world, but do your due diligence. Read articles that they’ve written, understand their tone and make your attack knowing that you are prepared.

www.marlo.wine 

If Pip's story has inspired you and you want to know more about how you can DIY your own PR then click here to find out about my DIY PR membership, here for my 1-2-1 service and here to set up a discovery call to chat more.