August EIN Essentials: What Makes Something Impossible to Ignore?

Before we dive into August news, we have a fun fact, especially for our history buffs.

You might remember how a theft helped turn Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa into a global icon, fueled by widespread media coverage. To jog your memory: on Aug. 21, 1911, a man who had hidden in a Paris museum overnight stole the painting; it was recovered about two years later after an attempted sale that led to an arrest.

What made it memorable was how the theft pulled the painting out of obscurity. It quickly shifted from an overlooked portrait to something widely talked about — a reminder of how a single news story can propel an event into the spotlight.

Now, on to our August edition of EIN Essentials.

Our Heard on the Streets features have ramped up this month. The founder of what was then the world’s largest PR tech firm sat down with us to talk about the key strategy behind his successful campaigns for leading brands and companies. We also chatted with a serial entrepreneur who shared advice on how to scale for solo entrepreneurs. And our AI series, covering everything you need to know about using AI platforms for search visibility, continues. We have that and more.

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Inside this issue:

1. Tech PR Pioneer Larry Weber on the Power of Storytelling

2. Scaling a Business Without a Big Team

3. How Press Releases Can Shape AI Search

4. Turning Search Clicks Into Revenue

5. Advice From a PR Pro

Tech PR Pioneer Larry Weber on the Power of Storytelling

Larry Weber, who’s spent four decades in the PR game, didn’t hesitate when we asked him what’s been most disruptive to the industry. “The actual World Wide Web was the most disruptive,” he explained, not artificial intelligence like many people assume.

He also reminded us that strong relationships with journalists can still open doors to major earned media, including the kind of front‑page coverage he once helped secure in the Wall Street Journal.

We caught up with the PR pioneer to pick his brain about a variety of topics, including where organizations with limited PR budgets should spend their money. He also went down memory lane, recalling meeting a young Mark Zuckerberg when Facebook had just launched and working with Steve Jobs.

Read the full conversation.

Scaling a Business Without a Big Team

Ramon Ray knows what it takes to grow a business as a one‑man band. “Solo entrepreneurship isn’t a hobby. It’s a real business model,” he said during our second Heard on the Streets video podcast episode.

He’s built a profitable six‑figure operation as a solo entrepreneur, and he’s made a career out of helping others do the same.

Ray talks through what it really looks like to scale without a big team. He shares why the right partnerships can move your business forward and how solo founders can spot the moment they’re ready to grow.

He also gets into how press releases build social proof and can increase your visibility in AI tools.

See what Ray had to say.

How Press Releases Can Shape AI Search

By now it’s no secret that press releases have taken on a new job in the AI era. They still help companies share news with journalists and the public, but they now play a role in getting reliable information into AI systems.

Our third installment in our ongoing AI visibility series looks at how releases support AEO and GEO strategies.

AI tools need enough trustworthy information to understand who a company is, what it does and how it fits into a search conversation. That raises an important question for PR and marketing teams: What kind of content actually builds those signals?

Press releases help. They have always been used to share updates and give reporters material they can use. Nowadays, a well‑structured release that is distributed consistently can place accurate details across multiple credible sources.

Find out more.

Turning Search Clicks Into Revenue

Josiah Roche has made a name for himself in the world of getting found online. One of his biggest lessons? Tracking what happens after a click can completely reshape a campaign.

His firm specializes in Google ads and SEO, which he says are the tools that actually get businesses found online.

His day‑to‑day is spent running a small firm that many say has become a go‑to for companies trying to stand out in search, and he’s worked with brands that want more than clicks. They want customers and revenue, and he’s good at helping them get both.

Roche walked us through how following the full customer journey has helped clients push past the seven‑figure mark.

Read the full story.

Advice From a PR Pro

“Learn to use AI as more than an editor. The real unlock is treating it as an assistant that surfaces trends, scans the news cycle and handles the repeatable basics, so you can spend your time on the work that actually moves the business.”

– Lindsay Bennett of Ideally

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