By the way, Fran’s Chocolates Ltd. was my very first client when I started my business in 2001. We started our work together earning local publicity in the Puget Sound media just in time for Easter 2001. One good placement lead to another. Pretty soon, Fran’s Chocolates were featured in time for Valentine’s Day in USA Today. It was a delicious, delightful assignment for me over a two year period. I’ll always be grateful to Fran Bigelow for giving me my start as a publicist.
In 2001, I didn’t know the difference between premium, artisan-made chocolate and Easter chocolate you buy at the drug store. My son Kyle was about four years old at the time. I asked Fran if my son would know the difference between a regular chocolate bunny and one from Fran’s and if it would make a difference to him. In response, she gave me a lesson in tasting chocolate, and I’ll never forget it.
She pulled a regular chocolate bar from her desk and asked me to taste it, to feel the chocolate on my tongue and distinguish between the taste of the sugar and the taste of the chocolate. Then, she had me 
cleanse my palate with a glass of water and do the same thing with one of her truffles. She asked me to experience the snap of the crisp, dark chocolate shell and savor the texture and flavor of the ganache within. Believe me, I understood the difference between drug store chocolate and premium chocolate at that very moment, and I’ve never gone back.
Does my son know the difference? Absolutely. And so, too, does a nation of premium chocolate lovers. 
That’s why Fran is known as America’s Favorite Chocolatier, and President Obama is sharing her company’s delectable delights with the world leaders and others.
How delicious is that in so many ways? Here’s to plenty more good press and robust sales for those with great stories to tell and the commitment to tell them in their own backyards and well beyond!
By the way, 35 people have already registered to learn how to earn their own publicity at the Publici-Tea™ Express Workshop at Seattle Design Center on Friday, October 16 from 9:30 a.m. – noon. I’ll be debuting my custom-label Publici-Tea™ Express dark chocolate truffle bars created by Seattle Chocolate Company at this event, and they are — of course — absolutely delicious. Must be present to indulge! When you are among the next 19 people to register, you receive 147 powerful e-tips (a $10 value!) to boost your business and profit from free publicity.
