Ep360: How To Maximize Your Visibility And Brand Recognition

Stacy Jones | July 10, 2023 at 10:00 AM

Embrace the Spotlight with Confidence

If you find yourself hesitating to step into the media spotlight, rest assured that you're not alone. Many entrepreneurs and authors struggle to confidently present themselves on stage and effectively communicate their message. However, there is a solution. Allow Susan Harrow to guide you through this journey of self-expression and media mastery.

Susan is the CEO of Harrow Communications where she has spent over 33 years providing media training and honing communication skills for authors on national book tours, and developing executive presence for both corporate leaders and entrepreneurs around the world. In this blog, Hollywood Branded highlights how to shine in the media spotlight and build your brand to become a highly recommended guest on top-rated news series, podcasts, and across media!

The Importance Of Integrated Sales And Marketing Strategy (3)

A Little More About Susan

Susan has trained thousands of clients worldwide on how to interact and be comfortable with the media. Her methods are based in neuroscience, martial arts + mindfulness based practices, with the goal to speed your comfort + confidence for media interviews. As a media trainer, marketing strategist, and author of the best-selling book – Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul, she’s been called the “Go To Girl” for getting on Oprah.

Susan today specializes in working with socially conscious businesses to get their message - media ready – to grow their reputation and ROI.

Interview Transcript Highlights

Stacy: So Susan, how did you get here today where you are this medium Maven of expertise on how people should be packaging themselves and where they go wrong as well?

Susan: It started almost when I was a tot which is when I was in Junior high. I was friends with three different groups: the popular kids, the jocks, and also the artists. And one day I saw a group of people surrounding a kid who was being pummeled, like seriously pummeled and I went and grab the bully and yanked him off and it turned out, it was one of my artistic friends. I screamed at everyone like "What are you looking at?" Because even then I was the protector of those people, even the bullies.

Today, I really see my role as protecting the beauty and helping introverts and people who have really wonderful things to share but maybe don't want to be in the spotlight or are afraid to be in the spotlight, or on the other hand who just want to be in the spotlight, introverts or extroverts but really I see myself as a protector of beauty and working with the Wild Ones, the outcast, the people who are nerds, and maybe the crazy ones but they're the people that are shaping our world today and are doing really important things.

Stacy: You are right! It is scary to all of sudden step out from the shadows and be in the limelight. When you are an entrepreneur especially, or author, or executive at a company but not the true spoke person, those are skills that you are not naturally born with, you actually have to learn how to present in front of the media, correct?

Susan: I am happy you said that because it is a lot of role-play and repetition. Sometimes we look at what as your worst fears, like what are those worst-case scenarios first? Because people come to me and might have imposter syndrome or might have a loss of confidence or if they don't, they don't know really what they are in for because doing media is really at the highest level of your communication.

(sneak peek into the podcast episode)

Stacy: How are you utilizing the neuroscience and getting them into the body as you said, what are some of the tricks that you use?

Susan: I think the first one is a really centering one, which is in Aikido. What we do is really feel our feet on the ground and you can imagine I love how Dalai Lama came up with how you deeply imagine your roots going into the ground.

So you do this until you are settled. This is a stage screen wherever you want to just settle so sometimes when we get nervous, our energy comes up. So, it is always about the breath and when to settle and start to feel your energy in your stomach and then like you start to feel it all the way down your legs and deep, deep into the earth, maybe the center of the earth and then you imagine all those roots going out to the all the people that you want to connect with.

" Branding is all about perception, so you want to control and package and shape out there on the internet especially today."

- Susan Harrow, CEO of Harrow Communications

Stacy: So you and I are talking on camera, I can assume you working with your clients anywhere in the world are doing the exact same thing?

Susan: I do! I just spoke to somebody in the Netherlands the other day and anywhere in the world! We use Skype, so my most of my business was here and you know on video and then when clients came to town or local authors, we would go into the CNN studio or their hotel room to work on camera if that's what they want or people fly me to their venue to do like a workshop.

Like one day we did a day workshop working on their sound bites and then went into the studio the next day so they had all the assets, the social assets, they wanted. So that is something I maybe offering in the future, I don't know depends if people want that but they really loved it because they had all those assets they can use for TV and then on all social.

Stacy: Well, this is where I would love to say, how can our listeners find out more about you?

Susan: Well, you can find more about me on my website, www.prsecrets.com. I also created a course called: The Zen of Fame: Your Genius Gone Viral® Course: https://prsecrets.com/zen. It is a 3 - part digital publicity and media training course that gives you everything you need to build your business + brand with publicity.

Part 1: Create your key messages.
Part 2: Set up your systems.
Part 3: Develop a publicity campaign.

Check Out The Podcast!

For anyone who is looking to shine in the media spotlight and learn how to get out of their comfort zone on camera, listen to this podcast with our founder, Stacy Jones and Susan Harrow. Podcast below!

Every week we have a marketing professional on our show to share their tips, tricks and lessons learned from their professional experience. Check out some of our other podcast blogs from earlier this year:

How can you make sure you don't miss an episode? Click below to subscribe!