We like to keep up with the latest books out there that can help small business owners build their brand and make their business a success. So, we’ve been very excited about the launch of Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner.

It promises to be an invaluable toolkit for anyone looking for help to build their brand. Crammed full of insider advice starting with the PR building blocks of forming your strategy, to the execution of creative campaigns. This guide claims it will show you that anyone can learn to be a great publicist and that you will see direct results in your business.

We asked 3 women in business to review the book and give us their honest opinions. Keep reading to find out if this one lives up to the hype!

First we get the opinion of our Social Mums Pro for North Hertfordshire, Catherine of Social Wonderland. After a former career in bookselling, including running book launches herself she is now running her own social media consultancy.

“I was excited to get my hands on Lucy Werner’s much anticipated new book. A PR bible for small businesses. Apart from the fact that this book is immediately eye-catching with Lucy’s trademark punchy style (check out her Instagram @wernchat), this book had me at no-nonesense!

This book is written in a language I can understand, there’s a whole chapter on ‘Brain Farts’- aaah that’s what you call them!! It is straightforward, accessible and really, really useful! As a small business owner who works with other small business owners, I think there are two problems many of us have; we feel awkward about hyping our business and ourselves, and we just don’t know what we’re doing! This book demystified PR for me and I immediately used it to help write a press release for a client.

Lucy takes you through step-by-step everything you need to do to hype your business, drawing examples from her vast experience in PR and Communications. The book is jam-packed with tips but I absolutely loved the fact that these were followed up with actionable activities that get you started- get your notebooks ready, this is an interactive book! I also discovered some really useful resources on Lucy’s website www.thewern.com.

In summary every small business owner needs to read this book, I can’t recommend it enough!”

Next up we hear from Sarah Cummins who is a Montessori and Early Years specialist supporting educators and parents. Through her business Thispracticallife she offers workshops and consultancy as well as being a keynote speaker. She describes Hype Yourself as an eye opener as well as a confidence booster that has helped her establish her business profile.

“I loved this book. It covers everything you need to know to manage your own PR.
Lucy gets straight to the point with PR information and advice. Lucy avoids all the PR jargon which can be slightly terrifying if I’m honest! The format of the book makes it easy to follow and understand.

This book has helped me focus on the content of my business to enable me to start building a PR campaign and promoting myself and my services. The easy to follow communication calendar has helped me set out a clear plan with target dates.

This book has encouraged me to reach out and look for opportunities to collaborate with others in my field. I have previously avoided promoting my services in a way that puts me in view but now with this easy to follow plan, I have a clear agenda of how and when to pitch my services.

The book has given me more than I expected. It’s clear step by step plan has enabled me to build a strong profile for my business. I highly recommend this book to any small business owners who need an easy to follow toolkit to build their brand.”

And finally, we hear from our Social Mums Pro for South London Anna from Hellosocial.media, who has a public relations background with over ten years experience in the City with a leading public relations firm, Finsbury PR.

“Hype Yourself – A Non-nonsense PR Toolkit for Small Businesses is exactly that. It’s practical, concise, easy to read and certainly good fun!
Somehow there’s no waffle but it’s definitely engaging – the balance is spot on.

You’ll find out how to work up a PR strategy, what you need in your PR toolkit and how to go about getting what you need, how to build relationships with the right journalists and the final chapter (called Brain Farts – the book’s worth it just for that!) is full of inspiration for creative ideas and thinking outside the box.

Lucy Werner sets out step by step how to organise and manage your own PR. The book is packed full of practical, achievable tasks, it’s simply up to you to get them done. She helpfully explains why each task is necessary and includes examples – both successful and not so successful – from her 15 years of PR experience.

The book has plenty of tips not just from Lucy but from journalists and industry experts she’s worked with, so you get a “behind the scenes” look at how PR works, which I found really enlightening. And there are a couple of pages towards the end with advice on when using a PR agency or getting some coaching would be a good idea – nobody’s pretending you’ll never need a helping hand but there’s so much you can do yourself if you want to.

I’m sure this is a must-have book for any small business owner. PR can seem overwhelming, a dark art, an industry where it’s all about who you know and contacts. Lucy Werner turns all that on its head. It’s about knowing what your own business is about and why you do it and building relationships that make sense for you. And getting organised and being proactive.

So I highly recommend this book and I also recommend following Lucy – she’s @wernchat on Instagram. “

I think we can safely say that all three of our book reviewers loved Hype Yourself. It seems that the no-nonsense, jargon free approach has won them over. If you’d like a better understanding of how PR can help your business, this is the book for you.