Written in partnership with DN News Desk
Photo Credit: Scott BartnickThousands of small businesses have failed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s likely this trend will continue until vaccination is widespread. Scott Bartnick faced these challenges head-on and worried that he wouldn’t be able to stay afloat as things got worse and worse. In response to the pandemonium, he started Otter PR and has since gained a large number of clients, growing the business exponentially.
Before the pandemic started, Scott Bartnick quit his job at a Fortune 500 company to travel and make a difference in people’s lives. He created The Five Day Startup and several other business ventures, but they started failing during the pandemic. “All of a sudden, the marketing and networking events, meetings, and conferences I had planned for were canceled,” said Bartnick. “I knew I needed to pivot quickly, or I would go belly-up.” Scott and his longtime friend, Jay Feldman, formed Otter PR right before the pandemic started, so it would have been easy to watch it fail as well. However, the company now has over 70 clients in the e-commerce, coaching, and speaking fields. “I knew Jay was fantastic at helping to build brands on social media, and we both knew that our primary focus, at least at first, had to be on keeping ourselves and our target audience stay afloat during the pandemic.” Within just a few months, he was able to recover financially, owning a thriving business. Scott thinks that Otter PR is doing so well because he found his niche and stuck to it. “Brands from large companies to individual thought leaders were still looking for press coverage throughout the pandemic. Our niche was in not just helping them to stay afloat with press coverage, but to use that coverage in targeted media placements to help them grow their brand exponentially in spite of the pandemic.”
One of the most important values of Otter PR is helping companies of all levels have won on social media and find their voice. He hired the best digital marketers, branding experts, and social media strategies to join his team, calling them “otters” for their part in this important process. “Our team’s work is collaborative. Whether a project is assigned to me or a member of my team, the result is reflective of that collaboration. We aren’t satisfied with the results we generate unless the client is, and even then, I always ask myself and my team how we can continue to raise the bar for the next assignment.”
Small businesses will continue to struggle throughout 2021 as the pandemic continues. Scott Bartnick and his team at Otter PR can help any business survive and even thrive during these struggles.
