Without a doubt, Max Clifford is the most powerful man in the British tabloids and is well known for his supreme PR skills. Now Max is kindly taking out the time to show you how to play the PR game. So listen, learn and find a way to succeed.
For those of us who don’t know what a PR company does, could you explain its purpose?
Max: Yes, the main purpose of a PR company is to create the right image for your clients by using the media, which is the press, radio, television and the Internet, to get your message across. The message itself is the one that is most productive and conducive to the success of those you represent, whether it’s an individual star, a company or a charity - whatever it is. So it’s a combination of promotion and protection; trying to get the best thing in the media that will help your clients
You have represented a lot of celebrities and high-profile people. Who are some of the biggest clients you have worked with?
Max: Well, the people that I’ve worked with and represented over the last 40 odd years include The Beatles, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, The Bee-gees, Woodstock, Bob Dylan, Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Marlon Brando, etc. etc. I’ve also worked with Simon Cowell.
How did you manage to get the funds to start up your PR company?
Max: Well, I started in a very small way with just myself and a PA in the office. The company, whose office it was in the early days of my own company, was a management company that managed various people like Joe Cocker, and others.
So I had my office rent-free and I obviously had a small retainer to do the PR, so I kept my overheads down, and managed to make a small profit from the early days.
From when you first started your business, how long did it take to become profitable?
Max: It was profitable from the start in a very small way, and the kind of work I was doing was working with the stars - celebrities. I then moved on to working with companies like restaurants, because ‘stars’ were a means to promote anything, so if a star went into a restaurant, the restaurant got publicity or the night club got publicity, so I gradually built it up into night clubs and restaurants, and then into companies and organisations, and my business gradually grew with it.
On average how many hours where you working when you started out in business?
Max: Well I’ve always worked long hours because I’m on the phone to late at night and the first thing in the morning; whether I’m talking to clients all over the world or I’m doing radio or television interviews. I worked long hours in the very beginning and I still do.
Are there any specific hours you work?
Max: Well I’m not a very early riser, usually my days start at eight, but I work full-on.
In each profession people are always advised to make sure they are equipped with the tools of the trade; what tools does a start-up PR businessperson need?
Max: Of course you need the computers, the telephones, you need the awareness of the media and how it works, and obviously the more you know about what makes a news paper and a magazine, or television programme, or radio, the more chances you’ve got of getting the type of coverage your clients need. Your basic needs are any means of contact.
If you had to start again with no reputation and no track record, how would you go about starting a PR company?
Max: Well, the most effective way is to get success, so if you take someone that’s unknown, or a company that’s unknown or restaurant, a shop or organisation and very quickly they achieve a lot of positive coverage publicity, then you become successful very quickly because people realise what you can achieve, and that’s how I started out in the beginning.
If you where start a PR company with no experience, how much would you charge clients?
Max: It’s based on what you can do, if you’re young and you’re just starting out you’ve got to be sensible. It might be charging someone a thousand pounds a month, or something like that, show them what you can do and then of course you charge other people and produce all the results of that first client you worked with, and it builds up from there.
For a lot of people with the funds to rent an office do you think they can run a PR company from their bedroom as an alternative?
Max: You can start a PR company in your bedroom; all that matters is you get results. I’ve said many times, I’ve been speaking to many students at various universities doing PR courses. I tell them that practical experiences can be got even when you are at university: you can go to new companies, like a new hairdressers, a new restaurant opening and say, “pay me a small amount: I’ll get you in the local papers, I’ll get you in the local radio, I’ll get you coverage.” So you can do that from home with just the basic facilities, providing you know how to go about it, and you work to achieve that, by contacting the papers and the radios; it’s not difficult.
You are known as one of the most powerful individuals in the media and you were once quoted as saying, “I can take any average person off the road and make them famous overnight”: is that true?
Max: Yes, it’s not a question of power it’s just being aware and knowing how it works. The media are always looking for new names and new faces so, if you know the way the media works, and you have the contacts and the creative ability, then it’s not that difficult to make anybody famous for at least five or ten minutes; the most difficult thing is sustaining it.
Richard Branson was once quoted as saying that if you can run one business, you can run any business in any field. Do you agree with that statement?
Max: No, I wouldn’t agree with that. I think that every business has specialist requirements, specialist knowledge; I’m just lucky that I fell into something that came naturally to me. I wouldn’t believe that I can necessarily run other businesses
Have you ever read a business or self–help book before and, if so, would you recommend any?
Max: No, none at all. I’m sure it can help people but I was always one for doing things my own way
What about an inspirational film that motivated you?
Max: Nope, to be honest it’s just about doing your own thing; it’s just doing your own thing that you enjoy. Looking to be successful was the only inspiration I needed.
If you didn’t start the PR firm, what business would you have gone into?
Max: I'm the kind of person that needs to work for himself. I like to do my own things my own way and I don’t like people telling me what to do, so with that personality you need to be on your own. So if I hadn’t started a PR company, I would have done something else in business.
What are the starting prices to get your company’s services?
Max: It starts at £15,000 a month; that covers promotion, television and all the media, for example, someone like Simon Cowell came to me as a unknown eight years ago and we did everything we could to promote him all over the world, eight years later he’s still a client, although he pays a lot more than £15,000 a month!
Article Edited by: Jo Simister - Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it