 Scott Smith graduated from California State University at Chico in 1986. It would take almost ten years before he found his true passion. The first job he took after graduation was in the buying office of Macy's. He then received and outside sales job with a company that manufactured mailing and shipping equipment. After becoming successful with that company, Smith was recruited by Bristol Meyers-Squib to become a pharmaceuticals sales representative.
Smith ended up disliking the pharmaceuticals sales industry and left to reflect on his true interests and desires. Although still not sure of what industry to work in, Smith decided to try his hand at being an entrepreneur. Having an interest in cars, his first business endeavor was to market an auto lot that rented private parties a secure location to advertise their vehicles for sale.
Smith and a friend from college purchased property for the car lot in the heart of Sacramento's "Auto Row." They named the business Public Auto Expo and Smith and his friend charged a flat rate to private sellers in order to place their vehicles on the lot.
The two entrepreneurs created custom sale signs that detailed the specifications of each vehicle and created a corporate look through logos and professional uniforms. Smith says, "For two guys, it was the coolest job ever. A lot of people would come by to check out the lot and ask us who our franchiser was. The theory behind it was very intriguing. We were even visited by a few celebrities."
During the peak of Smith's auto lot business, he and his partner were interviewed by a local media entity and attention to the business grew dramatically. Smith says, "Often times, people you know won't be as supportive about your business or endeavor until they read about you in the newspaper for the first time."
 It was through that experience Smith realized the power of free press. It initiated his desire to help other entrepreneurs gain the same type of exposure. In 1995, he set out to help entrepreneurs gain the media attention their companies needed in order to set themselves apart from others in the industry. His first office was originally a corner office in his bedroom.
In March of 1996, Smith opened his first official office in Sacramento, California. Today, his company, Entrepreneur PR, has media contacts with every major television network and periodical throughout the country
 Entrepreneur PR's clientele is diverse, but consists solely of small business owners. Smith refuses to take on large companies, saying that he has even sent back a check when a former staff person, confused by the company's mission, brought on a client that was not a small business owner.
Smith qualifies a small business as one that has $25 million dollars in revenue or less. A majority of his clients make much less, averaging between $700,000 $5 million in revenue. However, There is no minimum requirement that Entrepreneur PR's clients must meet. Smith jokes that, during the Dot-Com era, many of his clients had negative revenues.
Often, the decision for Entrepreneur PR to take on a new client is based upon the idea for the good of service the client is offering to the public. If an idea is promising, Smith and his team tend to be enthusiastic about it. Smith says, "We tend to look at it as catching the early wave."
The fact that Entrepreneur PR focuses primarily on small businesses sets it apart from other public relations firms. Smith says, "Even though a majority of businesses are small, almost no public relations firms will work with them. Typically, the reason is that it requires a large amount of money for a firm to work with a particular client. Much like Rolls Royce automobiles, a public relations campaign is a high- end process, tailor-made for the client. The smaller companies are eliminated in the process."
Smith says that, while there are a handful of firms that will work with small businesses, very few offer the type of dedication that Entrepreneur PR does. Smith and his team are constantly on the lookout for low-cost options for their clients and educate them about the magic of public relations. Smith also goes out of his way to promote his clients saying, "I go on media tours to places like New York to meet with publications such as Business Week. I don't think I have ever heard of another small business public relations firm personally visiting the media for their client."
Smith says that, with around 25 million small businesses out there, the media is becoming increasingly aware of the impact they have economically. In the past, Smith worked as a consultant for television shows focused on entrepreneurs. Smith has helped clarify for the staff of these shows what it means to be an entrepreneur and the characteristics of most small businesses.
Smith says, "For example, one show had a revenue parameter of $100 million or more in sales. With that, they had eliminated a great deal of their potential stories. I introduced them to Scott Olson, the creator of Roller Blades, who had considerably less revenue, but a great idea for a product and they placed him on the show. The show wound up dropping their revenue parameter and eventually eliminating it. Our firm wound up having more clients on the show than any other PR firm after that."
 Making it past the first five-year window has been Smith's greatest success with Entrepreneur PR. "It is amazing the difference it makes when you have established yourself. In a mater of a few phone calls, you can turn things around, even when the chips are down, as it was last year for the industry. If you do good work and you know the right people, things will happen. There is not a city I can to where I do not know a reporter to pitch clients to."
When asked about the frustrations of the public relations industry, Smith says that receiving payment from clients can be difficult at times. Sometimes, because the businesses are small, they try to offer unconventional payments such as equity in their company. During the Dot-Com era, Smith says a number of companies offered equity instead of financial payments. This wound up being very beneficial if the company succeeded, but as we all know, many of them did not.
Smith says that some clients want to pay-for performance. Smith says that this model fails in that it is very hard to evaluate the outcome of media placement, and clients are not always willing to share the fact that they received media exposure with the firm.
Smith says that the actual clients can be the primary problem at other times. "We have had clients lie to us, scream at us, and then expect us to say positive things about their company. I refuse to misrepresent a company to my media contacts. No client in the world is worth throwing your ethics out the window. If a person is not pleasant to work with as a client, I can only imagine what they are like to work with as another vendor. So, now we screen our clients by personality type as well."
 Based on the West Coast, a typical day for Smith starts with e- mail correspond- ence and is then followed by phone calls. This is because a majority of his associates are on the East Coast and have print deadlines to meet. The afternoons are left for appointments with clients. "I am consistent, but I do not work at a fanatic pace. I try not to work all night. I don't want to build my company at the expense of my health. Therefore, I have a great home gym that I utilize."
When asked what he enjoys most about being an entrepreneur, Smith responds, "The best part is having a vision of something you would like to do and then just doing it. There are so many things that don't make sense on paper but work great in the real world. The corporate environment is not conducive to those sorts of ideas."
 In his free time, Smith tries to base his hobbies on business ideas. Often times, he will travel to meet with media people. He is also an advancedamateur photographer and likes to travel with his girlfriend.
I n terms of his financial success as an entrepreneur, Smith says, "While I don't have a huge bank roll right now, when I get there, I will most likely look into acquiring some collectible automobiles and vacation property. I come from a single parent household, so I would also like to help my mother acquire a better house."
Smith also enjoys giving back to his community. "Helping young people get through the transition in life is rewarding. I grew up in a gold mining town outside of Yosemite National Park. It was a great town, but definitely far removed. When I first moved there, we had ten family party lines. When you were on the phone, neighbors were always picking up the line. You constantly got interrupted. My neighbors even had outhouses. It's good to have that background because when you see someone who has a challenging situation in life, to be able to help them out with it is a lot of fun."
When giving advice to other entrepreneurs starting out, Smith says, "Network better. Whatever field you are in, get to know other people in it. If you are going to open a restaurant for example, join the Restaurant Association and your local Chamber of Commerce. It's not necessarily who you are that makes the difference, it is who you know." |
