The Small Biz Insider podcast is part of a digital series from the Greater Houston Partnership, where we highlight the innovative business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders of the greater Houston area making a big impact in the small business community. 

On this edition of Small Biz Insider, host Maggie Martin sat down with Carey Kirkpatrick. She is CEO & Founder of CKP, a Houston-based agency serving clients in Houston and Austin through integrated strategic marketing and public relations solutions.

Here are 5 key takeaways from our conversation with Carey Kirkpatrick:

A brand is really how people connect to you. Brands that create an emotional connection do a great job of communicating their values, personality and case for why customers would want them in their lives. Kirkpatrick said companies who are doing this successfully include Nike, Apple and, here locally, Tacos A Go Go.

The marketplace is inundated with so many choices, so it's important to differentiate your company from others early on. Ensuring your customers understand the value of your brand and connect with your brand helps eliminate a lot of competition. 

Your business's story is your brand promise. These connection points are going to make customers want to choose your business over others. Your story should include triggers the convey your brand promise and convey what people are going to experience when they interact with your brand. Your story is crucial because people connect more with stories than just information.

The changing landscape of how we consume information is one of the greatest challenges for PR today, but also one of the greatest opportunities. At the core of PR is protecting your brand and reputation, and this changing landscape makes it challenging for publicists to ensure the information they want to convey is getting to the right place. There's also a lot of resources today that didn't exist years ago. In addition to traditional media outlets, consumers have access to social media channels, "influencers" and bloggers. So there's so many more channels businesses can use as part of their storytelling arsenal. 

"One of the things I love about Houston and Houston small business owners is there's a lot of creativity, innovation and just general scrappiness." Kirkpatrick said she's excited by the energy and innovation within Houston's business community. 

Listen to this and other episodes of the Small Biz Insider podcast here. Learn more about the Partnership's other small business resources.

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