Joanne Henson is a health coach and author who specialises in weight loss coaching. She’s had a lifelong interest in helping others to get healthy and became a health coach in 2012 when she established her business and her first two books were published.
“I always wanted to get into something that would help other people get fit and healthy. I trained as a personal trainer years ago but wanted to do something different so it took me a while to find out how I was going to do it.”
Joanne ran her business for two years before turning to Panpathic Communications for PR service.
“That was the first time I tried using PR; I had a six months run with Chantal in 2014. At that time I had written two books and met Chantal through a networking event and got chatting to her about how I could raise my profile, of both my coaching business and the books. And with the books coming out it seemed like a good story for the PR to work with. So it was mainly to promote the books that I decided to try PR but Chantal said that yes, she would promote the books, but it would be with a view to getting more coaching business for me as well.”
What were you hoping to achieve by using a PR service?
“I just wanted to get more exposure and sell more books so that I would become better known. I didn‘t actually know what to expect so it was a bit of a “let‘s see where this takes us”. I think Panpathic’s minimum term was three months but I then stayed with her for six months because I was getting such good coverage in magazines and newspapers etc.”
What was the initial plan and what was the result?
“Chantal had me writing three or four articles and then she used one of those a month as a pitch for journalists. So it just started with me writing some interesting articles and then Panpathic did all the follow up. I didn‘t really have any measurable goals so it‘s difficult to say what my expectations were, I suppose they were exceeded in terms of the amount of coverage I got. I got a lot of coverage in women‘s magazines and on women‘s magazines’ websites. Some bloggers also reviewed the books and I got coverage on a radio show! And that all happened within these six months.”
What would you say were the main benefits of having a good PR service?
“I think it‘s just a case of getting your face and name out there and also, I feel that being featured in magazines and putting the links on Facebook and Twitter and blogging about it gave me a whole lot more credibility. And it gives you a reason for being on social media; notifying if you‘re appearing in a magazine and such. I would recommend using a PR service because, if nothing else, it‘s good for your confidence as a business person. I think there was a personal value in it for me in that people wanted to hear what I had to say and it raised my confidence in what I was doing.”
What’s the best thing about having the service of Panpathic Communications? “
Chantal and I worked together for the minimum term and then I decided to carry on; that speaks a lot for how much I liked working with Chantal. I found her really easy to work with, extremely professional and knowledgeable about what she does. Which is quite unusual for me because I‘m not very good at delegating to other people and just letting other people get on with things but with Chantal I felt I could really trust her. And one of the good things is that after I stopped using Panpathic’s service, some of the journalists still come back to me even now, asking for further articles and comments so through Panpathic I made some good longer-term contacts.”
Do you think you would have managed to get the same results on your own, without the help of PR?
“No absolutely not. I did have a bit of a try sending out stories and press releases to journalists before, but Chantal knew the right journalists to go to, and I didn‘t. Chantal‘s name is known so the journalists take more notice of her e-mails than they would of me, because they didn‘t know who I was. And then Panpathic did all the following up which I just didn‘t have time to do. I would send out e-mails, never hear from the journalists again and just put it down to a wasted job but Panpathic would follow them up, so no, I wouldn‘t have felt comfortable doing it myself. I didn‘t have the knowledge to do it myself and I didn‘t have the time, to be honest.”
Would you recommend other business owners to hire Panpathic Communications?
“Yes, I would recommend Chantal because she truly knows the publishing industry and the world of PR. She‘s got great contacts in the publishing industry and she actually gave me a lot of advice on top of her PR service; advice about the sort of stuff I could be doing for myself as well. So if you‘re an author and you want PR and marketing for your book then I would say Chantal is your person because she works within the publishing industry so she‘s got that knowledge. It was just such a positive experience and I definitely intend to use her service again.”
