From $5 to $12 Million: Mignon Francois’ Proven 5 Step Recipe to PR Stardom

In Mignon Francois’ book, “Made From Scratch: Finding Success Without A Recipe,” she shares her journey of turning $5 into $12 million through her cupcake business (The Cupcake Collective).

She attributes this success to 5 key ingredients: the ability to “quit quitting, be regimented, practice your craft, get rest [and] believe in you” in the hopes that we would be able to take her recipe for success and make it our own. 

With this in mind, here’s how you can take those same steps and leverage them for PR success:

#1 Quit Quitting 

We have all heard it before. Sometimes it’s loud, other times it’s a silent whisper. Self-doubt is that voice in our heads that often stops us in our tracks. It tells us we’re not good enough, smart enough, or perfect enough, and that no one is interested in what we want to say. It can make us quit on ourselves and our ideas. 

But the truth is, success isn’t without failure and, as previously mentioned, the “first step to being successful is to stop quitting on yourself” (Mignon Francois). So, write that pitch if you haven’t already, send the one sitting in your email drafts or whatever it is you personally need to do to make things happen for yourself. 

Rather than moving in fear, start moving in faith so that you can take full advantage of the many benefits of PR, such as getting more visible, attracting your dream clients and getting paid what you want.

#2 Be Regimented 

PR success does not happen accidentally. It’s a process of trial, error, and repetition. What this means is that you need to be regimented by developing systems, routines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and sticking to them just like you would a cupcake recipe when baking. 

For example, if you decide that you’re going to send one pitch per week, you should stick to that plan. Additionally, once you get a positive response, use that successful pitch as a template that you can keep tweaking and crafting for future pitches.

“Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.” – Richard Branson

#3 Practise Your Craft 

We’ve all heard the saying, “You’re only as good as your last performance”. This is true for PR too because you’re only as good as your last pitch. This is why, as previously mentioned, it’s important to always sharpen your craft and continuously improve your pitch skills. 

However, beyond this, there are other skillsets that need to be practiced to ensure that each appearance or feature gives you the PR benefits discussed above. These include your interview, people, and networking skills because, in the words of Todd Herman, “Business moves at the speed of relationships”. 

With this in mind, how you present yourself and tell your business story once you get on a podcast or summit, for example, are also skills you should polish and craft so that you can tell a captivating and memorable story that will hook the audience long after you’ve told it and establish you as an authority and go-to expert within your industry.

#4 Get Rest

As the old saying goes, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Oftentimes, when we hear or read this quote, we think that dull means boring, but it also means feeling uninspired, experiencing a creative block, or feeling like you’ve lost your spark. 

When we take time off to do the things we enjoy like reading a book, watching a movie, or going for a walk in the park, we give ourselves the opportunity to experience a burst of new inspiration, away from our desks, worldly pressures, and dreaded deadlines. 

Therefore, as much as it’s important to be regimented and practise your craft, “work without rest is a recipe for failure” (Mignon Francois). 

So take this as a gentle nudge to go on that walk, watch that show, or read that book as these simple, yet necessary, breaks will spark new energy and ideas, “rejuvenating [you] and getting [you] ready for the next great thing”.

#5 Believe in You

“I can give you the exact steps and strategy, but if your mindset and your psychology are not in it, it’s not going to work” (Holly Haynes, Business Strategist and Mentor). In other words, there is no (PR) success without self-belief. 

Therefore, in order to cultivate it, start by actively challenging your self-doubt. You do this by starting to see yourself as a thought leader with valuable insights and information to share with an audience because “we become what we think about” (Earl Nightingale). 

Once you can visualise that, start taking the steps necessary to bridge the gap between where you currently are and where you want to be everyday so that your vision will become a reality.

PR has many benefits including making you more visible so that you can attract your dream clients and get paid what you want. 

This can be achieved through the 5 simple steps outlined above, based on Mignon Francois’ success framework. My hope is that this article will aid you in using it successfully for your visibility efforts.