“Everyday we disrupt the idea that it’s hard for people to connect to each other.”

This interview was made possible by our friends at Guidant Financial:

The leader in alternative startup, franchise and small business financing.

Scott Lazerson is a media strategy company focused on brand acceleration and non-traditional public relations.

After dedicating 15 years to philanthropic causes including his work with charitable celebrities, Scott Lazerson leveraged his connectivity skills to build a company that connects its clients with the right people and media outlets to bring their brands to the next level. He and his team have worked with amazing companies and individuals such as, #1 app developer Outfit7 (creators of Talking Tom), Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and Pawngo (the first full service internet pawn shop).

MO:  After working for 15 years in for philanthropic causes what inspired you to start your own media strategy company?

Scott: My best friend Mike is the one who inspired me to start my own media strategy company. He suggested that I begin to leverage the powerful network of friends I have built over the years. To be totally candid, he was sick of me making $70,000 a year because he believed I could work in the vein of a great connector and generate a lot more money in order to fuel an amazing company.

MO:  What are the best strategies for recovering from bad publicity?

Scott: People often say there is no such thing as bad publicity and I truly believe that. If you are the recipient of bad publicity, the only thing you can do is ignore it. Larry King once told me: “I don’t care if it’s good publicity or bad publicity, never read it.”

MO:  What are some recent examples of your non-traditional approach to public relations?

Scott: Everyday we disrupt the idea that it’s hard for people to connect to each other. Everyone should learn to love thinking outside of the box. For example, I’m a huge fan of a local college kid here in Utah that has a small non-profit in the Philippines. He had been desperately trying to connect with TOMS® with the hope of doing a shoe drop in the Philippines. Anyone can go through the standard ways of getting the message out, but I love leveraging the influence of my famous friends for the good of humanity. In this successful connect-the-dots moment, I reached out to Lindsay Lohan and she immediately tweeted out to TOMS® saying they should talk to @ScottLazerson about an opportunity in the Philippines. Within an hour we heard from TOMS® and the process began.

MO: What was the most interesting aspect of working with Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York?

Scott: The Duchess of York is one of the most amazing women on the planet. Her unabashed tenacity for being a spokesperson for the underprivileged of the world is an example everyone should follow. The positive energy and passion The Duchess has for everything she does in life is truly contagious. The Duchess never takes “no” for an answer—that is the most amazing thing I  have witnessed while working with her.

MO:  You’re currently in the process of writing a book so the world can see and understand the power and art of connectivity.  Can you talk about the creative process behind the book so far and what you expect the average reader to walk away with?

Scott: I’m beyond excited to be writing this book with Kiri Blakely, a former writer from Forbes. The book illustrates the principles that my team and I practice daily. The first principle, and one of my favorites, is “you win, I win”. If everyone has the mentality of that principle, more good would happen in the world.

This book will stymie the notion that people can’t achieve their wildest dreams. From reading this book the average reader will realize that they in fact, are not average. Everyone, with the proper knowledge and guidance can do extraordinary things. We have found the saying “common sense isn’t necessarily common practice” to be very true. Our goal with the book is to make the laws of connectivity common sense ideals that people can then translate to common practice.

MO:  Can you talk about your brand acceleration services and what kind of results your clients can expect once they sign on the dotted line?

Scott: Accelerating our clients’ brands and visions is what we are all about. We facilitate prolific relationships between our clients and appropriate media outlets, celebrities, agents, producers, anchors and hosts.  When we meet a potential client, our first question is: what dots can we immediately connect for them? Bringing the best minds together is what my soul thrives on. There is nothing I LOVE more than to associate with passionate visionaries.

Before the dotted line is signed, we make it very clear that it is going to, and must be a collaborative effort between my team and the client. By creating a collaborative relationship with our clients we are making sure that their dreams, visions and the things that resonate most with them actually come true. Our clients can expect a limitless amount of encouragement, energy, passion and love. Going back to the law: “you win I win”—if our client has success, we feel it with them.