fb pixel

Episode 35 Dealing with Crisis in the Spotilight

by | Aug 24, 2021 | Business Conversations, Podcast | 0 comments

Episode 35 Dealing with Crisis in the Spotlight
Dealing with Crisis in the Spotlight On today’s episode, Michael is in conversation with Ann Wright of Rough House Media who has an interesting personal business story, and great information for other business owners.

Dealing with crisis

In today’s episode, Michael is in conversation with Ann Wright of Rough House Media who has an interesting personal business story, and great information for other business owners.

Index:


Starting off in media

Ann began her working life as a journalist on a regional paper. Even at that early stage of her career, she chased down a big consumer story that went national. A series of career moves took her to the BBC where she ended up as a producer on some high-profile documentary and consumer shows. She and her husband originally founded Rough House Media as a side hustle, but after her son was born she took the decision to leave the BBC and concentrate on the business.

It was a steep learning curve, as she grappled with all the unaccustomed tasks that fall to every business owner. Not the least of her new challenges was sales. Although the business was already in existence, their client base was small, and she had to expand it to make the business viable. Early on, she discovered the power of saying “yes” to opportunity and then working out the next steps.

Making the most of media opportunities

Since 2008 the business has gone from strength to strength, helping their clients prepare for media appearances. During that time the landscape has changed and developed significantly. Mainstream media is still there and is hugely influential but alongside that, the rise in social media has produced a different kind of impact. Posts can go viral within hours or even minutes—and not always for good reasons. There is a rise in podcast and YouTube channels, providing a fantastic array of opportunities to spread the word about your business.

If you want your business to develop and grow, then it is important to understand how you are perceived, whether that is on TV, on a podcast, or on a social media live interview. If you are unaware of how to present yourself and your information in the best way, then your brand may suffer from audience perception that you are ill-prepared, unprofessional or, even worse, a bit shady.

When things go wrong

Rough House provides training in all aspects of media, and one of the most important elements of what they offer is preparing clients for how to deal with a crisis. Since March 2020 we’ve all had more than our fair share of crises, but even without a pandemic things sometimes go wrong in business. Social media has the power to make a small faux pas go viral in minutes. How would you cope if that happened to you?

With her background in the BBC Consumer’s Unit, Ann has seen time and time again what can happen to a business when things go wrong. She saw the hundreds of thousands of complaints that came into the unit from people who felt they had been treated unfairly or ripped off. She and her team investigated many of them.

Ann and her colleagues have a huge amount of combined experience in the media, covering events of all kinds, both celebrations and disasters. Who better to prepare you for the worst? Ann has some great tips and advice for dealing with crises. Her top tip is not to wait until it happens. Do you have any kind of risk assessment in your business?

Not just for corporates

You may think your business is too small to need these kinds of preparation. You may believe it is only “the big boys” who need to take precautions. But no business is too small to make (sometimes costly) mistakes. Even a start-up that hasn’t yet begun trading, could, for example, experience a serious data breach and end up out of business before they’ve properly begun.

To Recap: dealing with crisis

Ann shares her experience of how to prepare for the worst, and also how to deal with unhappy customers. Before they reach for Google reviews, or the BBC Consumer Unit to express their dissatisfaction, there is plenty you can do to put things right.

Tune in to hear Ann’s story and advice.


About Michael

Michael Crane Live Podcast

Michael Crane

Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Presenter

Michael has built and runs a successful business for the last twenty years. He’s learned many lessons—some of them the hard way—and he’s met and talked with many other businesspeople. He’s sold thousands of products and learnt the one hundred and one things needed to run a thriving business. Now he’s bringing this knowledge and experience to educate, motivate and inspire other entrepreneurs.



More episodes like this, dealing with crisis on Michael crane: