Helping Great Businesses Build Buzz - Farrell PR

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nora Minichino, Founder of Farrell PR, located in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I own Farrell PR - a public relations and social media agency. We like to consider ourselves our clients' Chief Public Relations Officers. Our goal is to assimilate into their business quickly and effortlessly, crafting their unique story, then strategically sharing it with their ideal client through appropriate media outlets and social media platforms. Our ultimate goal is to take the burden of publicity off our clients' shoulders to help them grow their brand recognition.

Our customers are established businesses or entrepreneurs looking to leverage their marketing efforts through media and community relations and social media content. Many of our clients work in the hospitality, restaurant, travel, and arts & culture industries.

Tell us about yourself

I'm Nora, a 17-year communications professional, pun enthusiast, and mom of two young boys. I started Farrell PR in January 2020 – I know, great timing – because I saw a need to help businesses manage their PR and social media efforts efficiently and affordably. With COVID in full swing, small businesses needed more help than ever, so I put my years of public relations experience to work helping people find ways to promote their business in this new digital world – so seriously, it was great timing! But my love for small businesses started wayyyy before 2020. Growing up, I watched my parents build their business, Farrell Transportation, from the ground – literally; their first office was in the basement of our house in New Jersey – into an extremely profitable mid-size enterprise by the time I graduated college. I was always inspired by the work my parents put into building Farrell Transportation, and I understand the pride that comes with a flourishing, reputable business.

In my own career, I have spent years working with clients in the hotel, destination, cruise, food, and entertainment industries, promoting their brands and achieving profit goals through social media and community/media relations. I have managed the PR efforts for over 100 hotels, launched international cruise ships, hosted media at wineries in California, educated chefs on the importance of using quality beef in their restaurants, and recently partnered with a premier hospitality training company to create a social media learning certification specific to hoteliers.

The thing that keeps me motivated is finding ways to get creative about telling a client's story and then getting that story in the right hands to ensure the message reaches people it will impact positively.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I have a client for whom I support nearly 80 hotels, of all sizes and brands, with social media consulting. As the world of social media expanded, I found myself working with hoteliers who found creating and maintaining a social media presence overwhelming, time-consuming, and expensive. I worked very hard to create systems to help them manage their social media so that it was time-efficient and cost-effective, no matter their level of social media experience.

Eventually, it became time efficient and cost-effective for me to create a series of educational videos where each hotel could learn the fundamentals of social media marketing through short lessons consumed in the nooks and crannies of their day. In early 2022, I partnered with the premier hospitality training company, SalesBoost, to create a social media learning certification specific to hoteliers. In the fluff-free, to-the-point certification we made, hoteliers are given all the tools to start building a social strategy that exposes their property to hundreds of people daily and opens opportunities to build revenue and increase bookings.

It was a year of honing in what we were teaching, tweaking content to ensure it was relevant, and sharing the product with people to get real-time feedback to ensure it was of the highest quality. I am so proud to say that the certification launched in October, and as of today, we have helped hundreds of hoteliers across the country see increases in engagement and follower conversions which ultimately increased revenue at their properties. It's been such a huge accomplishment to see my passion to provide top-tier social media support to hoteliers result in so many seeing success on their social media channels. That's the power of using social media marketing in the hospitality industry, and this certification shows you how to do it quickly and easily.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

In my opinion, the hardest thing about being a business owner is learning to scale while maintaining sanity. I got into the business because I have a specific talent, but I quickly learned that while I am good at that specific thing, as a business owner, you have to be good at ALL the things (or find people who are). Serving your clients' needs while also juggling your business' needs can be challenging, and finding the right people to support you in business can be scary and frustrating. I have certainly learned that I cannot wear ALL the hats if I want to grow, and I need to trust those that show up to support me. Growing a business can be difficult but it is really amazing to see what was once an idea in my head come to fruition through hard work and determination!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Brand identity is SO important in today's world. If your brand or business was a person, how would they speak? Who would they speak to? What are their values - what do they stand for/do not stand for? Having clarity on that will make things so much easier to reach the right person when you start marketing your product or service.
2. Get yourself a mentor. Find someone a few steps ahead of you in business and willing to share what has and hasn't worked for them so you can skip some of the hard parts of running a business. Entrepreneurship can be lonely, difficult, exciting, and fun, so it's good to have someone to help you unravel some of the hardships that inevitably will happen and share in the successes that eventually will come!
3. Network, network, network. Make sure you are always connecting with people. As a business owner, there are so many benefits to getting out into your community to lend a hand, show your face, and support others. It's not necessarily easy, schedules are usually very full, and business owners are some of the busiest people I know, but pencil in time to get out there and meet new people. You will never regret expanding your network!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.farrellpublicrelations.com/courses/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarrellPublicRelations
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farrell.publicrelations/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farrell-public-relations/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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