On Task Organizing: A Single Press Release Leads to Paying Clients

Customer Stories, Press Release, Uncategorized

Nancy Haworth founded Holly Springs, N.C.-based On Task Organizing, LLC in 2012 to offer professional organizing services to both homes and businesses in the Raleigh-Durham area. After spending most of her life finding calm in organizing, Nancy decided to bring that peace to clients. The company is a member of both the Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Professional Organizers, and Nancy herself is the NAPO-NC technology and communications director. As a startup, On Task Organizing doesn’t have a large advertising budget, and Nancy contacted me to write a press release for her to distribute to local newspapers.

I had worked with Nancy’s husband, Jared Haworth, on the website copy for his company, Alloy Code, and both Jared and Nancy were pleased with the results. Nancy wanted a press release that would accurately portray her company and announce that she was officially open for business and taking on new clients. I spoke with Nancy on the phone, and she sent me several documents and bullet lists with her ideas. I also learned about the types of articles that her local papers were most likely to publish, and it sounded like they were interested in stories that focused on people, not necessarily companies.

I have four paying clients, and two found me through the newspaper!

From there, I began writing a news article-style press release that played up Nancy’s organizational skills and transition from media production to professional organizing.  I started with how professional organizing can boost the value of a home for sale, segueing into Nancy’s background, expertise, and what makes her unique as a professional organizing. The full press release can be found here.

As of July, two of the local newspapers that Nancy submitted the press release to had published or summarized it. The Sanford Times summarized it in a few sentences, which led to an in-home assessment. The Holly Springs Sun published the entire release as is.

Perhaps the biggest chunk of publicity was from the Southwest Wake News and the Cary News, which led to two paying clients for On Task Organizing. A reporter interviewed Nancy after receiving the press release, and the subsequent article resulted in five prospective client phone calls and a woman interested in receiving advice on becoming a professional organizer. Out of those five calls, Nancy has had several paid organizing sessions with two of her clients.

“I have four paying clients, and two found me through the newspaper!” Nancy said in July 2013, when her business was taking off full-time.

To find out how a press release can increase your client list, contact me today at christine@christineparizo.com.