Start a Crisis Communications Consulting Firm

It is reactive, not flashy, so PR people chase brand campaigns instead. Companies pay top rates when their reputation is on the line.

1. 1

   Choose who you protect

   Pick one client type, such as regional healthcare systems, franchise owners, or executives in a single industry. Crisis work is sold on trust, and trust is built by knowing their specific nightmares.

2. 2

   Productize three offers

   Sell a fixed-fee preparedness audit, a monthly readiness retainer, and a premium incident day rate. The audit is the low-risk entry; the retainer is the business.

3. 3

   Build your playbook library

   Draft the core templates once: holding statements, escalation trees, spokesperson prep sheets, and a dark-site outline. Delivering in 48 hours instead of two weeks is the entire value.

4. 4

   Set rates like a specialist

   Preparedness retainers commonly run $1,500 to $5,000 a month for SMBs, with incident response billed separately at a day rate. Underpricing signals you have never handled a real crisis.

5. 5

   Get referred by the first responders

   Employment attorneys, insurance brokers, and IT security firms meet companies on their worst day. A referral agreement with two or three of them beats any ad budget.

6. 6

   Sell a paid tabletop exercise

   Run a two-hour simulated crisis for a prospect's leadership team. It exposes their gaps in real time and converts to a retainer better than any pitch deck.

Read the full step-by-step guide →