# PR for Small Business: Why Hyperlocal Beats Forbes

An episode of [Do Small Business Like a Big Boss Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1860975420), 14 Oct 2026, 47 min.

Audio: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/6245c27f29c28f31d9daa16372590fd09907c916f4826823ba5bc8141099bddf/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI0Y2E0MTIyYS1hYjFiLTQ2OWMtOTI4NS1hNjhkZDdmZGIxZDMiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiIwN2NhY2I0Mi03YzBmLTQ0ZDQtODg0ZC04YmUyMzA0MzEyNGUiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2ODdhZjZjNWY1MjhmYzVlMDY2ZTc2ZmQiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmFjZjBiYzcwNzMxZjU2MGJkYWMzOWM5L2Fpc2hhLW1hc3NlbmdpbGxzLXN0dWRpby0yMDI2LTEwLTE0X180LTU3LTQ0Lm1wMyJ9.mp3

In this episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, host Aisha Jorge Massengill sits down with Nicole Blake Baxter, founder of The Blake Agency, to discuss how small businesses can use public relations (PR) to build visibility, credibility, and stronger audience connections. With over 20 years of experience, Nicole shares how to create an effective PR strategy without a big budget, why local media coverage matters, and how entrepreneurs can build their digital presence. 🎧 What You’ll Learn: • The difference between PR and marketing • Why local media coverage can be valuable • How to approach sales through storytelling • How to pitch articles to trade publications • How earned, paid, and owned media work together • How to start building your PR strategy ⏱️ Episode Timestamps: 00:43 – Introducing Nicole Blake Baxter 00:46 – PR vs. marketing 03:00 – Her music industry experience 07:29 – Starting her own agency 13:48 – Business partnerships and exit plans 18:50 – Landing her first clients 20:07 – Storytelling and sales 26:52 – Why she turns down short-term campaigns 28:31 – Local press vs. Forbes 33:01 – Building your digital footprint 34:47 – Pitching trade publications 39:50 – Getting started with PR 40:42 – Earned, paid, and owned media 44:50 – Finding The Blake Agency 👤 About the Guest: Nicole Blake Baxter is the founder and managing director of The Blake Agency, an Atlanta-based public relations firm serving clients nationwide. She has over 20 years of PR experience, beginning her career at Island Def Jam before launching her own agency. 🚀 Make Your Business Official! Join Aisha’s FREE weekly webinar to learn how to build, brand, and strengthen your business. 👉 Register: https://www.igotnext.co/training 👉 Get Your FREE Legal Guide: https://smallbizzlegalguide.com 🔗 Stay Connected with Sedgwick Andrews: https://linktr.ee/Sedgwick_Andrews_LC Podcast Mantra: Build the dream messy, build it scared, just don’t build it small. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, download, and share it with another business owner! 🎧

## Transcript

Aisha Massengill: You need to be able to show that you have value and there are benefits to working with your brand. Welcome to Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, where we explore the real stories, hard-earned lessons, and game changing strategies of entrepreneurs who've moved beyond the side hustle and build businesses that scale with confidence. This show is proudly sponsored by Project Icon. I'm your host, Aisha Jorge Massingill, your Small Business Legal Guide. Let's dive in. What's up, bosses? Welcome to the latest episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss. I am your host, Aisha Jorge Massingill, your Small Business Legal Guide. And today I'm really pleased to welcome Nicole Blake Baxter to the show. Nicole is the founder and managing director of the Blake Agency, a full-service public relations firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. With clients nationwide. A veteran communicator with 20 plus years in the PR industry, Nicole built her career from the ground up. Publicity at Island Def Jam group to senior sales at Stan Communications and Kramer Castlet Public Relations before ultimately launching her own boutique agency. Welcome, Nicole. Hey, Aisha. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being on the show. I thought it would be helpful before we begin and get into deep. To set the stage for listeners, how would you differentiate your role in PR versus a marketing agency? So PR is really specialized. and it's, you know, I like to tell everyone, even though I'm biased clearly, that PR should be the foundation of any marketing campaign because it really informs how you communicate with your clients, your customers. even your you know internal audiences. So PR is, you know, a specialized area that focuses more on communications, how you communicate, where you communicate, as opposed to marketing that can entail, you know, marketing is considered the overall umbrella and PR falls under it, but I do believe that PR should be the foundation. I don't think you can have a successful marketing

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