IAM993- Founder Helps Companies and Nonprofits Strengthen Their Brands

With more than 25 years experience in nonprofit and corporate communications, Karen Bate, Founder and CEO of KB Concepts P.R., rebrands companies and nonprofits; positions organizations to achieve their objectives; garners key media placements; and harnesses digital marketing and social media tools to tell her clients’ stories and inspire others to support them. Great Ideas for Good Causes is not just her company tagline; it is the guiding philosophy of her work.

• CEO Hack: Getting involved in the community
• CEO Nugget: Ask for advice from people who are further ahead of your career
• CEO Defined: Being your own boss, responsibility to the community and being in charge of your destiny

Website: https://kbconcepts.com/

KB Concepts on social media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenbate_kbconcepts/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kbconcepts/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KBConceptsPR
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenbbate/

Awesome Women Entrepreneurs on social media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beawesomewomen/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwesomeWomenAWE/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeAwesomeWomen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/awesome-women/

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:14 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO podcast.

00:42 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gretch from the I Am CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Karen Bate of KB Concepts PR. Karen, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:51 – Karen Bate

So great to be here. Thank you.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely. Super excited to have you on as well. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Karen so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. With more than twenty-five years of experience in nonprofit and corporate communications, Karen Bate, founder and CEO of KV Concepts PR, rebrands companies and nonprofits, positions organizations to achieve their objectives, garners key media placements, and harnesses digital marketing and social media tools to tell her client stories and inspire others to support them. Great ideas for good causes is not just her company tagline. It is the guiding philosophy by her work. Karen, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:29 – Karen Bate

Absolutely. I'd be delighted.

01:31 – Gresham Harkless

I'm delighted to have you on as well. And to kick off everything, I wanted to rewind the clock here, a little bit more on how you guys started what I call your CEO story.

01:40 – Karen Bate

Well, I originally started out as a journalist in New England and I worked in journalism for a few years and I was very interested in politics and everything going on in the world. So I moved to DC and I got a job on Capitol Hill as a press secretary. And I quickly realized that after having covered politicians and other newsmakers for a long time, I really didn't have the reverence of them that I think is required to work for them on Capitol Hill. I like to say that I, I just was far too irreverent for that environment.

And I found a lot of it really kind of off putting. So I only worked on the Hill for a short time. I lived on the Hill for a while and I loved it. But I went into nonprofit PR and I worked in nonprofit PR for about ten years. And then I started my own business. And the my initial clients were former, non profit people and organizations that I worked for.

And that's where my tagline Great Ideas for Good Causes came from, because, for me, what gets me out of bed every day is not just working and earning money, but doing something that I think changes our community, helps do something good, helps put something positive out in the world, and helps make things better for people and for, our communities. So I feel like I was very clever in combining my work and doing good in the world, and it's made it rewarding for me.

03:06 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's where the beauty comes from. I always believe when you're able to take two different things and combine them, it sounds like you have those passions, that expertise, and can combine them to not just do great work, but also do a great job for great causes as well too. That's definitely a win-win if I could define it.

03:22 – Karen Bate

Absolutely. I love working. I have a new client. It's a wonderful organization in Anacostia in DC, and I'm helping them promote, a new podcast and a documentary they're creating about the mental health crisis in our community caused by COVID for populations that were already vulnerable and already struggling. A year of COVID has been really, detrimental.

And so they serve the neediest communities of people, people struggling with addiction, homelessness, they have a food bank, just like so many different ways that they try to support areas where things might be slipping through the cracks in DC. And it's such an honor to work with them and to help them do that. So that's really, my favorite new client in my new new project lately.

04:09 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's very exciting. And I think that so many times, and I don't know if you would feel the same way. I almost feel like the communication, especially the expertise you have is its language. And I think so many times, nonprofits and organizations are mission-driven. They were doing great work. But it's maybe more important, if not just as important, to make sure that people know the work that you're doing, know about what you're doing, your causes, your mission, all of those things. So that's why I love that you helped that kind of bridge that gap for them.

04:34 – Karen Bate

Absolutely. You hit the nail on the head, with this particular client. Their website was almost Indecipherable. You couldn't there was no section that said what all their programs were or how where to go to get food or where to go to get, they give out free cell phones. They have a program called harm reduction where they give out Narcom condoms face masks and hand sanitizer, all the things that people who might be homeless or struggling would need. And it was just not clear.

So if you went to the site as either a sponsor or a donor or one of their clients, so we completely redid their website right off the bat. And now we have a newsletter and we've started social media and we're putting out information about where people can get vaccines and all that kind of stuff that makes, they were doing a wonderful thing, but they weren't getting the word out effectively. So I'm really happy to help them with that.

05:27 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. I'm sure they're happy as well too and, of course, the people that can get all those things that they're providing, you know, for the community as well too, create that opportunity for so many people to win. And I know that touches a little bit more on how you work with your clients. So you mentioned the different arms. Is there anything additional that you do, you know, for clients that can tell us a little bit more about? And what you feel maybe even sets you apart is what I call the secret sauce that makes you unique.

05:51 – Karen Bate

I love that question. That's a great one. I think that, well my services include social media management. My main service is taking the stress out of organizations that don't have their own communications departments, which is pretty much lots of nonprofits and almost every small business. And we're all trying to do it all, and you have an expertise doing what you do. I have an expertise. I can't even do my social media. It's just overwhelming. I'm busy serving my clients and doing what I do best. And that's true of so many people.

So my number one service is just taking that stress and overwhelm off people's plate by providing them with regular, good social media content. But another thing that I stress and that I'm kind of on a rant about this year is that I think everyone posts way too much on social media. We're all drowning in it, and it makes us all even more stressed. And I refuse to post more than three times a week for any client. One should be about your actual business and services. One should be about best practices within your industry.

The third one should be a much more big picture about why you're even doing what you do and why it matters to the world. And then I'll use all of that content to make one Insta story, video, post too. And I tell everybody if we all did that and followed that rule, we could all, like, breathe a little bit more in this crazy, just nonstop information. I mean, just going on social media, sometimes I feel my blood pressure going up, even if it's all good stuff. So I try to help, all of my clients manage that.

And then in addition to that, I do email marketing, which to this day is the best form of marketing, the most successful. We do blogging to get SEO and eyeballs on their websites. We do digital ads and promos. Promoted posts are a great way to reach more people because you can target wider audiences than the people who already follow you. I do media outreach. I get my clients partnerships with local media and things like that, podcasts. Any way that you can get their word out to a wider audience that you might not be reaching through your website and social media. So those are the main ways that I work with clients.

08:12 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I appreciate that. And as you said, there's such a, I guess, an influx of information and data that people are posting. So I love that you have those three pillars that you should have, you know, max, you know, every week, to be able to connect with your clients. Because I think so many times people use social media and so many other tools to just bombard people rather than communicate, have a conversation, and understand what's relevant to them. So I love that you do that work on the front end to kinda help them to be able to understand that. And do you consider that to be what I would call your secret sauce? The thing you feel sets you apart is your ability to synthesize that information.

08:46 – Karen Bate

Yes. I think that, so, well, number my I have two I think I have two complimentary secret sauces. One is to make everything you do somehow benefit your community. So whether you're selling widgets or shoes or running a nonprofit, you need to be involved in your community and let the people in your community know that by your being there, whether it's as a small business hiring people or selling products and serving the community, or by doing some lofty mission, that is tied to your community, being involved in your community, giving back, allowing your employees to give back, that is the best marketing you can ever do.

And then my second secret sauce is to simplify it all so that we are only doing in a very strategic way, targeted, maybe once-a-month email marketing, three times a week social media posts, a blog post, and a decent website. You don't have to be bombarding people to get your message across effectively. And I think that people appreciate that. And when people are I start unfollowing people who bombard me all the time. So that's just not a winning strategy, I don't think.

09:52 – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:02 – Karen Bate

So, I'm gonna do one that might be a little different than what you usually hear. It's not an app. It's not a hack. My biggest advice to every young woman woman that I mentor who has started their own business and really anyone new in our community is to get involved in the community, to join your local Chamber of Commerce or your local networking group. When we ran awe, we, of course, wanted women to join awe, but the chamber wanted a woman only networking arm. So we worked with the leaders there and brought it into them so that all of the business community would be under one umbrella.

And the Arlington Chamber is an amazing organization. The DC Chamber is awesome. All of the local chambers are great. And I can't emphasize enough that when you, as a small business owner, join your local chamber, make that investment, which can be, you know, from five hundred to a thousand dollars a year, and then sign up for some of the committees and get involved in community engagement or the environmental committee or there are so many different ways to get involved.

11:01 – Gresham Harkless

Appreciate that, that hack. And so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell your younger business self if you were to tap in tap in a time machine or you might also tell a client.

11:15 – Karen Bate

I love that question, Gresh. That's such a good question. I think if I could, talk to my younger self, I would be less afraid or intimidated to ask for advice from people who were way farther along in their careers than me. I would be less, less afraid to reach out to even, a rock star because I've heard from people that are major rock stars like Seth Godin or, you know, any of these amazing people that have written books about marketing and success that when people actually that people always think that and hardly ever write to them or ask them for questions.

And when they do, they're more than happy to shoot them an email response and support them. And every time I've asked anyone, including like the top, top person in an organization, for advice, they are more than happy to help me invite me for coffee, schedule a phone call, sit down and share their wisdom. And now that I'm a more seasoned person, I do it all the time for young people too. I think that anyone starting out or in the early stages should try to get a mentor within their organization or their industry and should never hesitate to ask anyone who seems successful what, especially if it's a specific area they're struggling with or even just in general, what do you think my next move should be? Am I on the right path? Am I going in the right direction? What's your advice?

12:41 – Gresham Harkless

I appreciate you for showing a case in that. And so now I wanna ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Karen, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:53 – Karen Bate

Wow. Yeah. That's a good one. I think that well, being a CEO means that, number one, you're your own boss, which is why I went down the road to entrepreneurship to begin with. I'm from a long line of entrepreneurs, both of my parents, and all my brothers. And it was just inevitable that I would become one. And I do love being my boss. I feel like we who are our own bosses maybe had a lot, a little bit of an easier time making the transition to an all virtual world. I was already working from home. I was already sitting at this desktop, having lots of meetings on Zoom. I discovered that I could meet with my clients easily on Zoom and didn't have to be traveling all over the place.

And even from the rare face-to-face meetings that I was having with them, we all found it more convenient. And that was before the pandemic, so it wasn't a huge change for me, in that way. And so that's one thing, being your boss and having kind of control of your destiny. But the other most important way is what I've talked about a lot before and as part of my company's secret sauce, it's that I feel a responsibility to my community as a CEO and as a woman CEO.

I feel a responsibility to lift other women, to support them, refer them all the time, and also support the entire business community, give back wherever I can, volunteer for the local nonprofits, and help share their I do have a social media following, so I often share events. This past Saturday, I was a sponsor and participated in the, Run for Her Life five ks and yoga event that was held by the black parents of Arlington and Arlington for Justice. It was a group of people that got together and started those organizations. And it was the one year anniversary of the murder of Breonna Taylor.

So we all got together and marched through the streets of Arlington. And I shared it on social media and was happy to be part of it. And like, that's just something that's in my DNA. I think that need to be involved in your community. You need to be doing that kind of thing and showing up as a biz I'm not just a business leader. I wanna be a leader in the community in that way too.

14:51 – Gresham Harkless

Karen, truly appreciate you for being that person. I appreciate your time. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you wanna let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

15:03 – Karen Bate

Thank you so much. Well, your listeners can find anything they want about my company at k b concepts pr dot com or kbconcepts.com and on my social media which is Karen Bate and on Instagram it's got kb concepts on, I think Twitter is KB Concepts, but Facebook and, and, LinkedIn are my name. So they can reach me at any of those and follow me, and support any of the things that I have currently going on. Cause I always have something going on.

And otherwise, you know, I just urge everyone to get involved in your business community. And if you're here in the DC area, check out the Arlington Chamber because we have an awesome female founders roundtable event every month, women in business networking event every month. On April thirtieth, we have the women in business summit, which is the former AWE Summit. And it's all online, and there'll be hundreds of women presenting and getting together just to support one another.

16:00 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much, Karen. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can follow-up with you. But I appreciate you for reminding us how important it is to be a great business leader, but, maybe even more importantly to be a leader within the community and how that goes hand in hand, not siloed as we talked about before. So appreciate you for doing that, reminding us of that, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:20 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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