ZB Group

Woolverton Inn

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October is National Women’s Small Business Month

Image: Pixabay

October is synonymous with beautiful fall foliage when nature “reinvents” itself as leaves lose chlorophyll and carotenoids are revealed. It is also National Women’s Small Business Month which recognizes the importance of our country’s female entrepreneurs. We are celebrating by featuring three women who embraced entrepreneurship and reinvention by either launching new businesses or becoming a first-time business owner.

These dynamic women changed course to focus on their passions and build a business. One as an owner of a bed-and-breakfast, another founding a skin care company and the third’s business provides equine based coaching workshops. There are roughly 12 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. according to the United States SBA.

ZB Group was proud to collaborate with these inspiring businesswomen. We shared the benefits that their businesses, products and services provide, and what led them to pursue their dreams, with the media, bloggers and influencers. Snapshots follow with a link to read about our specific collaborations and the media coverage garnered for each one.

Mary Passalacqua, Woolverton Inn

Mary Passalacqua and her husband Mario, are owners of a beautiful historic bed and breakfast in Stockton, New Jersey. Woolverton Inn is nestled on ten acres and surrounded by 300 acres of preserved farmland and forest. It is a convenient destination for year-round getaways, weddings, special events and corporate retreats. After spending more than 25 years working in corporate finance for large manufacturing companies, Mary realized a lifelong dream by purchasing Woolverton Inn in 2016. Today their thriving bucolic inn is a testament to Mary and Mario’s dedication to their guests and staff, investment in the property, commitment to the local community and savvy business acumen.

Idyllic Bed and Breakfast

Edye Dumhart, Edye’s Naturals

A mother of two and a lifelong athlete, Edye Dumhart didn’t plan to become an entrepreneur and a proponent of the benefits of organic skin care products, but she has immersed herself in both. She developed her first product, Edye’s Face & Body Butter, when she was unable to find wholesome non-toxic ones to help her rosacea, sunspots and wrinkles after years of competitive sailing and sun exposure. Through Edye’s hard work, foresight and enthusiasm, her line has expanded. It now features nine nourishing eco-friendly plant-based products. Edye’s Naturals can be found in many locations throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, at various seasonal craft shows, and on her website.

Edye’s Naturals

Marie-Claude Stockl, The Horse Institute

Located on 30 scenic acres about 100 miles north of New York City, The Horse Institute provides leadership development, team building and communication skills workshops, using Equine Assisted Learning. Founded by Marie-Claude Stockl and her husband Larry Stockl, they are two seasoned corporate executives who believed a different kind of experiential training was possible and necessary beyond the typical conference room and slide show presentations. The business utilizes Marie Claude’s communications expertise honed during her stellar career at Fortune 100 companies and her lifelong devotion to horses. Clients include major pharmaceutical companies and organizations.  

Corporate Training Company

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Join us in acknowledging the growing number of women-owned small businesses and their countless positive contributions.

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Chamber LIVE Interview Featuring a Successful Client Collaboration

Debbie Bayes, co-founder and communications director of ZB Group was interviewed on Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber‘s “Chamber LIVE” show with Mary Passalacqua, owner of Woolverton Inn.

Christine Curnan, host of Chamber LIVE, led the spirited conversation inquiring about their collaboration’s accomplishments, Mary’s advice for new entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners, Mary and Debbie’s career paths, the inn’s interesting history to its modern-day evolution, the affect of the pandemic on the inn, and more timely topics.

The entertaining show, produced by New Jersey Buzz, is set to upbeat background music and enhanced with colorful images of the inn and the lovely surrounding area. Examples of the stories published online and in print about Woolverton Inn as a result of our working together, are featured and discussed.

Video of the full conversation is above with a list of timestamps to listen to specific topics below.

{.41} Mary, after a long successful career in finance, five years ago you became an owner of Woolverton Inn. How and why did you make this career and lifestyle change?

{3:42} Debbie, how did you meet Mary?

{4:48} Mary – The Woolverton Inn is a very historic location can you tell us about the history of the Inn?

{8:13} Mary – What are your favorite parts about running the inn?

{9:21} Mary – Last year was really challenging for many small businesses but especially for those in travel and hospitality. How did you fare when the pandemic hit and are you feeling optimistic about 2021?

{12:20} Debbie – Can you tell us a little about you and the services that your company offers?

{14:18} Debbie – What did your collaboration with Mary entail and what did you accomplish?

{18:11} Mary – What’s your best advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs or for people who may want to buy an existing business like you did with your husband Mario?

For more information about our custom marketing communications services, please email Debbie at dbayes@zbgroupinc.com or call (609) 514-0966.  

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When it Comes to Media Outlets, Why Thinking “small” can Have a Big Impact.

The various ways to share a media placement online including on social media, in blogs and on websites

Interviews on national outlets are indeed valuable, but in the digital age, it’s important not to dismiss media opportunities with smaller outlets as Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent experience illustrates.

In the spring when the coronavirus outbreak surged in the U.S., Dr. Fauci was a frequent guest on all the major TV talk shows. However, by August, the New York Times reported most interviews were with outlets like Instagram Live, an online education platform, a local TV affiliate and podcasts. Continuing this trend, Dr. Fauci was a guest on Sirius XM’s Doctor Radio, in early September.

He realized smaller outlets could be instrumental in promoting his public health messages to their audiences and may even be picked up by larger ones. According to the article, “His appearances are widely watched by reporters from large outlets, who then quote him in their news reports.”

Obviously not everyone has the clout that a prominent health expert like Dr. Fauci does to weigh in during a global pandemic, but here are eight reasons to consider opportunities with smaller outlets for a positive impact.

  1. Present, Explain and Expand Your Message. Connect with your target audiences where they spend time which includes smaller channels.
  2. Accrue Online Visibility. Journalists looking for sources on a subject and consumers alike can find the interview, story, feature or content.
  3. Ability to Share on Multiple Channels. Social media, subscriber-based newsletters, websites or company blogs, all provide more eyeballs.
  4. Lend Credibility to Your Brand, Company, Product or Service. Conveying your story on their platform, relays its importance for their community of readers, viewers, listeners, loyal followers and fans.
  5. Raise Local Awareness. Depending on where your customers are based, recognition by local media outlets may be preferable vs. national media.
  6. Engage with Niche Audiences. For certain products or services, blogs, websites or publications that appeal to specific interests may be best to target. For example, ones comprised of health or eco-conscious consumers, fashionistas, home cooks, entrepreneurs, cyclists or golfers.
  7. Express Thought Leadership. Via bylined articles and interviews with reporters at trade publications, promote expertise and convey influence.
  8. Reporters, Editors and Producers Change Jobs. Someone working at a smaller outlet today may leave for a larger one tomorrow, or start their own one day. Connections and positive impressions made in the past, will help build relationships with media professionals that may be advantageous for your business or organization in the future.

For a recent project, we arranged for the owner of a bed-and-breakfast, Woolverton Inn, to be quoted in the Associated Press, but we also intentionally selected to pitch smaller outlets that are a good fit for their messages and various audiences. As a result of our efforts, blogs geared for baby boomers and millennials, a meetings and events publication and a New Jersey business magazine, among several others, featured the inn.

There are many factors to consider when planning a media outreach strategy but keep in mind that smaller outlets may yield big rewards.

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To Pitch or Not to Pitch in a Crisis? That is the Question.

COVID-19 has affected many facets of life from travel and the economy to schools and parenting.

During ordinary times, we reach out to the media regularly with all sorts of pitches crafted about our clients to pique interest in different story ideas. From travel and health to beauty and retail, our pitches may be associated with consumer trends, small business, CEOs, thought leadership, holiday gift guides, human interest, how-to tips, roundup articles, and everything in between.

But these are not ordinary times.

In the age of the coronavirus is it a good time to pitch?

We say yes, as long as the pitches are sensitive to the evolving health and economic crisis. This is an unprecedented time including for those who report the news. Bloomberg reporters candidly explain how they have been affected.

COVID-19 abruptly changed our lives causing great uncertainty about “returning to normal” for the foreseeable future. In March and April, as this Wall Street Journal article discusses, while stuck at home consumer spending on food and alcohol, gardening, home amusements and comfort items boomed but with declines in other sectors.

During early spring only pitches associated with the coronavirus pandemic or those describing acts of kindness were warranted, as Jamie Yuccas, a correspondent with CBS News, along with two other journalists, shared on Navigating Newsrooms During COVID-19.

Coronavirus-related pitches and those about brands giving back to benefit essential workers are still appropriate, but other types are also relevant now to incorporate into pitches for journalists, bloggers and influencers:

FOOD & DRINK – healthy recipes, desserts, cocktails and easy meals to make for single adults, couples or families cooking at home together.

BEAUTY – at-home beauty, hair, and skin-care tips for looking your best on Zoom calls and to boost self-confidence

ORGANIZING – tips to declutter an apartment, house or home office

CLEANING – easy ways and useful products to clean and sanitize especially for frequently used kitchens and bathrooms

TRAVEL – properties and attractions currently closed but producing video for virtual visits to sustain interest; those that are reopening with key health and safety plans in place

PARENTING – ideas to get work done with young children at home; fun family recreation with playdates limited and perhaps no summer camp

LOCAL DESTINATIONS – convenient places for getaways accessible by car

VENUES – those that are equipped to host small weddings, meetings or special occasions since previously planned larger affairs or major conferences and events are likely cancelled or postponed

EXERCISE – companies that offer online classes, fitness equipment, or exercise products, for maintaining good physical and emotional health

RETAILERS – those offering ordering online and curbside pickup or contactless delivery as well as stores that are reopening

SMALL BUSINESS and PROFESSIONAL SERVICE COMPANIES – those who have pivoted from in-person to offer consulting, training or other services online; small businesses who have instituted new ways of doing business

EVERGREEN IDEAS – these are not event or time-sensitive including human interest or thought leadership ideas from CEOS, founders or entrepreneurs  

In the midst of a pandemic or not, by customizing each pitch stating why the idea is of value for the media’s audience, will help increase positive PR opportunities and build enduring connections with consumers.

Please reach out if we can help. Be well and stay safe.