The public relations business takes a combination of story telling and people skills, knowledge of your area’s surroundings and an affinity for taking on challenges. Marion Crawford has those skills, and those that she doesn’t personally possess, she has teamed with people who do. About a year and a half ago, Crawford launched Crawford Strategy, a company that handles public relations, market strategies and event planning.
She teamed up with long time professional PR guru Sandy Linning, “Sandy is, to me, the dean of the public relations business in South Carolina. I have known her for many years and she has also served as mentor for me,” says Crawford.
Crawford, a former TV journalist, copywriter, and now wife and mother of three, has surrounded herself with those whom she considers the best and brightest of Greenville area marketing and PR people.
Consequently, Crawford Strategy has grown from the original 4 to 19 employees in less than eighteen months.
Crawford says she is most proud of the staff she has built, “I am extremely proud of how hard they work, we are a very young company. We have 22- year-olds who are forced to step into some very big shoes. Everyone’s attitude is ‘we can do that,’ and ‘we’ll figure it out.’”
The key to her success, she says, is that her company partners with those businesses and organizations that hire her. “We become part of their staff. In some cases we attend staff meetings, we get email accounts at the company, we become part of the company so we can plan their market strategy from a place of experience and strength.”
Her vision is that Crawford Strategy will continue to grow and evolve into an established strategic solutions company that is well respected on a regional and potentially national level. “I would like to exploit our focus on certain industry sectors where we have developed significant expertise,” she says.
Crawford Strategy 200 E. Camperdown Way 864.232.2302