Talk Shop

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder and CEO of Lighthouse Labs

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Lighthouse Labs is a tech education company that helps adults change their careers into emerging technology roles

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Talk Shop to accomplish?

• Brand Awareness
• Thought Leadership
• Student and Employer recruitment

SOLUTION

How did you find Talk Shop?

Referral

Why did you select Talk Shop over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Talk Shop were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

As a new entry in the educational space, Lighthouse Labs needed to build substantial credibility amongst students, employers, government officials and the general public. Talk Shop helped amplify our incredible results by building strategies that resonated with the media and geneal market. 
They help bring our results to life with student focused stories, they found us tons of speaking and quote opportunities, and they helped build our CEO as an influencer and thought leader in the space. The achieved an incredible amount of press coverage and impressions, and consistenly brought to life new projects we were hosting in the space. 
They did copywriting, ghost writing, influencer reach out, press releases, and helped us go through multiple crises including COVID where we had to go from in person to remote. They also helped us announce the sale of our business and did a masterful job building out the messaging for all our stakeholders. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Press Coverage
• Impressions
• Thought Leadership name recognition

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They always responded to our needs rapidly and with well-thought-out strategies, and they managed our projects to on time delivery every time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Talk Shop?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their ability to blend our particularly unique approach and needs to a media market that needs things to be simple and headline worthy to actually cover it. They would listen to where we wanted to be, and then find a path for that within the very noisy media. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Talk Shop could have done differently?

No, we loved them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner in a venture capital company focused on accelerating disruptive innovations in enterprise, consumer, and health sectors. We operate as a multi-stage investor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Talk Shop to accomplish, especially considering your focus on disruptive innovations in enterprise, consumer, and health sectors?

We hired Talk Shop for PR services. They worked with a number of our portfolio companies we led a round for. At the fund level, they clarified our positioning and got TechCrunch and Forbes coverage for us within weeks of working together. They built thought leadership that actually drove authority to our LPs. For portfolio companies, they translated complicated, often unsexy, stories that supported fundraising, talent acquisition, and raises. They are ninjas when it comes to connected PR in tech.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Talk Shop has been responsible for brand positioning, earned media, executive thought leadership, social and video content, and a small web development project. They’ve gotten us media placements in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, Technology Authority, TechCrunch, Wired, The Information, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Forbes, Fortune, and CNN.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–5 members of Talk Shop’s team.

How did you come to work with Talk Shop?

We found them through a referral from a founder who loved working with them. We chose them over other options because of their experience, approach and value for the cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Talk Shop has gotten us tier-one media placements and quality of coverage, share of voice and category, inbound interest, and website and SEO rank. Since we started working together one of our LPs sales have increased by 27%. We’ve also increased our backlink profile from 822 to 1,340 links which has improved our AI mention visibility and outperformed much larger competitors. Our sales, share of voice, and AI visibility are the most important metrics to us.

How did Talk Shop perform from a project management standpoint?

Talk Shop is a well-oiled machine in terms of running proactive work, flagging and bringing new and creative ideas to the table, and delivering in a fast and effective way. We communicate via virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their understanding and knowledge of our business overlaid with experience from other sectors brought a lot of new thinking and approaches to the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we can come up with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of a digital marketing agency. I am involved in all aspects of business development and project execution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Talk Shop?

Talk Shop was brought on to support our clients' brand awareness and media relations strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

Develop product launch strategy and introduce product and brand to new markets by securing media coverage.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred by a colleague/past Talk Shop client.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

• Develop a strategic plan for media and influencer relations which included brand positioning, key messages, and pitch calendar.
• Compiled a list of media targets for target regions and began active outreach to press & potential influencer ambassadors.
• Provided media training and coordinated media interviews.
• Provided monthly reporting on impressions reached, volume of coverage secured, new audiences engaged and web traffic analytics.
• Thought leadership strategy entailed solidifying executive spokespeople.
• Proactive outreach to raise the profile of executive team and brand overall.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with a business director, an account manager, and two coordinators.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Secured positive press coverage and increased brand awareness of brand and product. Captured investor interest. We saw an increase in customer inquires and organic and direct traffic.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Always available and responsive over email and phone. Senior strategic council was included in all conversations. Very organized - system/process ensured all tasks were completed on time and on budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Talk Shop had a breadth of cross-industry experience. It was clear that they had a high level of business acumen across all team members. They were able to merge creative thinking with a sound business strategy. Provided clear and detailed monthly reporting.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were satisfied with all aspects of service.