Ariel Hyatt is the founder of a successful PR firm, an international speaker, and author of four books (three out and one coming in 2015). Her trademarked, award winning Cyber PR® process marks the intersection of social media, PR, and online marketing. Her PR method is taught at several universities. However she is best known in her industry for her ability to simplify and explain things that creative minds don’t necessarily love: PR, marketing, and social media.
“There is a science to effectively using social media, but there isn’t a definitive roadmap; it can be confounding,” Ariel says. “I’m very good at making people feel less confused.”
She is so good at un-confusing, that she has been invited to present at over 70 conferences in twelve countries, including SXSW (where she has appeared 15 times), CMJ, Vivid Sydney, Hubspot Ignite, Campus Party London, The 140 Conference, You Are In Control (Reykjavik), and Social Media Week New York. She has also toured Australia, teaching artists across the continent her 8-hour marketing master class. Ariel’s work has been lauded by established media outlets garnering her press in Oprah, CNN, Wired, Billboard, Forbes.com, and The Washington Post.
Before the term social media, hit the mainstream Ariel foresaw the impact the Internet would have on public relations and she devoted herself to exploring this unchartered medium.
“My mission became; get a few passionate fans to react, and become my clients’ fan advocates based on narrow shared interests and build from that goodwill,” she says. “I find your tribe and connect you to them. That’s how you create longevity and relevance for any brand.”
From these early successes, Ariel developed her platform. Cyber PR, which makes a radical departure from the traditional PR approach because its progress is transparent. She created software that functions essentially like an online dating site, connecting clients to opportunities based on a matching system. Through this, clients can monitor the success of campaign progress. This takes the smoke and mirrors aspect away from the process and holds her agency accountable.
An entrepreneur who embraces challenge, Ariel pivoted her business from traditional to digital, and then went on to study and teach herself crowdfunding by raising $61,000 in her own successful crowdfunding campaign.
“Running my crowdfunding campaign was brutal. I realized just how much work goes into a 30-day campaign. During it I was stressed out of my mind, and completely uncertain that I would make my goal of $50,000.” With concerted effort she went beyond her goal and realized that crowdfunding was the next tool she needed to add to her arsenal if she wanted to continue to help her clients.
“I see crowdfunding as the new ‘advance’ book publishers are not giving them, record labels aren’t giving them and small business loans from banks are next to impossible hard to secure for the creative class. Crowdfunding must be mastered.”
In order to help people gain mastery she has written her latest book Crowdstart, on Fears, Fans and Funding. It will be released officially in the spring of 2015. It’s a step-by-step guide on exactly what you need to do to complete a successful crowdfunding campaign extracted not only from Ariel’s own experience, but also from many of the successful crowdfunding campaigns she has coached her clients through.
Ariel is also the author of three successful books on PR and new media, Music Success in 9 Weeks (now out in its 3rd edition) Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook & Twitter, and Cyber PR For Musicians. These offer artists step-by-step plans to create profitable and sustainable businesses. Her newsletter and YouTube series, “Sound Advice,” has over 20,000 subscribers, and she has written over 200 articles to date.
In the fall of 2011, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) recognized by the Rolling Stone College Guide as having “one of the preeminent music business programs in the country,” began offering an official Cyber PR Class based on principals used in Ariel’s day-to-day business. Every semester since, she and her staff lead students in a rigorous Cyber PR accreditation process that includes hands on experience working on active campaigns. The course has been so popular that a second session and an advanced class have now been added.
Ariel proudly serves on the advisory boards of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, SXSW Accelerator, and on the education committee of The Moth.
She is an obsessive world traveler, an enthusiastic foodie, a chocolate chip cookie baker, and a vintage lunchbox collector. She is a born and raised New Yorker with a deep nostalgia for all things from the 80s that still exist in NYC. She lives in Brooklyn with her gray tabby Hunter C. Thompson (the C. stands for cat).
What Is Cyber PR?
Cyber PR® allows clients real-time reporting and immediate feedback, allowing for flexible PR campaigns that can respond to emerging business trends on a proactive basis. Her established template is applicable to all areas of business
Ariel’s History…
Ariel Publicity was founded in beautiful Boulder, Colorado in 1996. Boulder was the perfect place for a new music PR firm considering the amazing area talent and the incredible Fox Theatre, where she proudly served as the PR director for 5 and a half years.
She worked for several Colorado bands that helped to put Boulder on the musical map including Leftover Salmon, Sally Taylor, Band Du Jour, Zuba, and Acoustic Junction.
Ariel Publicity & Booking
For several years she also ran a booking agency and booked national tours for dozens of ska, swing and punk bands including Skinnerbox, Skavoovie and the Epitones, Spring Heeled Jack, The Stubborn All Stars, The Slackers and The Skoidats.
1995 – 1996 – Small Axe Concerts
Concert promotions and artist management company, Small Axe appointed her Vice President and Publicity Director. She promoted club shows (Spearhead, Barenaked Ladies), stadium tours (The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311), and summer festivals (Reggae on the Rocks, The American Music Festival), throughout the Rocky Mountain region. The opportunity to publicize countless national acts coupled with the experience of day-to-day management of bands was the perfect springboard from which to launch her own company.
1994 & 1995 – What Are Records? (W.A.R.?)
Spent a year as assistant to the General Manager Jim Lewi at What Are Records?, an indie label comprised of 17 scrappy kids who managed to help The Samples sell 1,000,000 albums. When W.A.R.? moved headquarters in 1994 she moved with them from her native New York City to Boulder.
1993 & 1994 – KSA & NYCD
During the days she worked as an assistant at KSA The publicity firm for Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz, Tina Turner and Bob Dylan. At nights, she worked at NYCD, a record store on her native Upper West Side run by one of her best friends and now a the preeminent cocktail blogger at The Huffington Post.
Fresh Out Of College – WNEW FM
Ariel began her career in music as an associate producer of the morning show on WNEW FM in New York. There, she earned the impressive salary of $60.08 per week working along side the morning show DJs trying desperately to capture some of Howard Stern’s glory (to no avail) Music business 101 lessons learned (it’s hard to compete with the king).
College
Became obsessed with the NYC jam scene and saw many incredible moments created by Blues Traveler, Joan Osborne, The Spin Doctors, the Authority, and multiple bands playing The Wetlands .
For four years in college she interned at a Fashion PR firm KCD where she learned that the devil is in the details.
The ’80s
One hell of a time to grow up in New York City. Ariel spent 6 long years at The Dwight School (which later would turn out to be great training ground for participating in the music business) She spent days watching Iann Robinson torment the teachers, and Lizzie Grubman torment the students, and she actually has a 7th grade photo of Damon Dash. This was the eighties – way before The Strokes, and The Hilton Sisters passed through the halls of Dwight. The clothes however were very much the same.
On weekends, no one carded at the door and the live music scene in New York involved The Ramones, a thriving Ska scene, long Sunday afternoons at CBGB’s, and plenty of late nights at The Ritz, The Palladium, Nightingales and The New Music Café. It was a great place to fall in love with live music at the perfect time to do so.
“There is a science to effectively using social media, but there isn’t a definitive roadmap; it can be confounding,” Ariel says. “I’m very good at making people feel less confused.”
She is so good at un-confusing, that she has been invited to present at over 70 conferences in twelve countries, including SXSW (where she has appeared 15 times), CMJ, Vivid Sydney, Hubspot Ignite, Campus Party London, The 140 Conference, You Are In Control (Reykjavik), and Social Media Week New York. She has also toured Australia, teaching artists across the continent her 8-hour marketing master class. Ariel’s work has been lauded by established media outlets garnering her press in Oprah, CNN, Wired, Billboard, Forbes.com, and The Washington Post.
Before the term social media, hit the mainstream Ariel foresaw the impact the Internet would have on public relations and she devoted herself to exploring this unchartered medium.
“My mission became; get a few passionate fans to react, and become my clients’ fan advocates based on narrow shared interests and build from that goodwill,” she says. “I find your tribe and connect you to them. That’s how you create longevity and relevance for any brand.”
From these early successes, Ariel developed her platform. Cyber PR, which makes a radical departure from the traditional PR approach because its progress is transparent. She created software that functions essentially like an online dating site, connecting clients to opportunities based on a matching system. Through this, clients can monitor the success of campaign progress. This takes the smoke and mirrors aspect away from the process and holds her agency accountable.
An entrepreneur who embraces challenge, Ariel pivoted her business from traditional to digital, and then went on to study and teach herself crowdfunding by raising $61,000 in her own successful crowdfunding campaign.
“Running my crowdfunding campaign was brutal. I realized just how much work goes into a 30-day campaign. During it I was stressed out of my mind, and completely uncertain that I would make my goal of $50,000.” With concerted effort she went beyond her goal and realized that crowdfunding was the next tool she needed to add to her arsenal if she wanted to continue to help her clients.
“I see crowdfunding as the new ‘advance’ book publishers are not giving them, record labels aren’t giving them and small business loans from banks are next to impossible hard to secure for the creative class. Crowdfunding must be mastered.”
In order to help people gain mastery she has written her latest book Crowdstart, on Fears, Fans and Funding. It will be released officially in the spring of 2015. It’s a step-by-step guide on exactly what you need to do to complete a successful crowdfunding campaign extracted not only from Ariel’s own experience, but also from many of the successful crowdfunding campaigns she has coached her clients through.
Ariel is also the author of three successful books on PR and new media, Music Success in 9 Weeks (now out in its 3rd edition) Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook & Twitter, and Cyber PR For Musicians. These offer artists step-by-step plans to create profitable and sustainable businesses. Her newsletter and YouTube series, “Sound Advice,” has over 20,000 subscribers, and she has written over 200 articles to date.
In the fall of 2011, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) recognized by the Rolling Stone College Guide as having “one of the preeminent music business programs in the country,” began offering an official Cyber PR Class based on principals used in Ariel’s day-to-day business. Every semester since, she and her staff lead students in a rigorous Cyber PR accreditation process that includes hands on experience working on active campaigns. The course has been so popular that a second session and an advanced class have now been added.
Ariel proudly serves on the advisory boards of Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, SXSW Accelerator, and on the education committee of The Moth.
She is an obsessive world traveler, an enthusiastic foodie, a chocolate chip cookie baker, and a vintage lunchbox collector. She is a born and raised New Yorker with a deep nostalgia for all things from the 80s that still exist in NYC. She lives in Brooklyn with her gray tabby Hunter C. Thompson (the C. stands for cat).
What Is Cyber PR?
Cyber PR® allows clients real-time reporting and immediate feedback, allowing for flexible PR campaigns that can respond to emerging business trends on a proactive basis. Her established template is applicable to all areas of business
Ariel’s History…
Ariel Publicity was founded in beautiful Boulder, Colorado in 1996. Boulder was the perfect place for a new music PR firm considering the amazing area talent and the incredible Fox Theatre, where she proudly served as the PR director for 5 and a half years.
She worked for several Colorado bands that helped to put Boulder on the musical map including Leftover Salmon, Sally Taylor, Band Du Jour, Zuba, and Acoustic Junction.
Ariel Publicity & Booking
For several years she also ran a booking agency and booked national tours for dozens of ska, swing and punk bands including Skinnerbox, Skavoovie and the Epitones, Spring Heeled Jack, The Stubborn All Stars, The Slackers and The Skoidats.
1995 – 1996 – Small Axe Concerts
Concert promotions and artist management company, Small Axe appointed her Vice President and Publicity Director. She promoted club shows (Spearhead, Barenaked Ladies), stadium tours (The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311), and summer festivals (Reggae on the Rocks, The American Music Festival), throughout the Rocky Mountain region. The opportunity to publicize countless national acts coupled with the experience of day-to-day management of bands was the perfect springboard from which to launch her own company.
1994 & 1995 – What Are Records? (W.A.R.?)
Spent a year as assistant to the General Manager Jim Lewi at What Are Records?, an indie label comprised of 17 scrappy kids who managed to help The Samples sell 1,000,000 albums. When W.A.R.? moved headquarters in 1994 she moved with them from her native New York City to Boulder.
1993 & 1994 – KSA & NYCD
During the days she worked as an assistant at KSA The publicity firm for Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lenny Kravitz, Tina Turner and Bob Dylan. At nights, she worked at NYCD, a record store on her native Upper West Side run by one of her best friends and now a the preeminent cocktail blogger at The Huffington Post.
Fresh Out Of College – WNEW FM
Ariel began her career in music as an associate producer of the morning show on WNEW FM in New York. There, she earned the impressive salary of $60.08 per week working along side the morning show DJs trying desperately to capture some of Howard Stern’s glory (to no avail) Music business 101 lessons learned (it’s hard to compete with the king).
College
Became obsessed with the NYC jam scene and saw many incredible moments created by Blues Traveler, Joan Osborne, The Spin Doctors, the Authority, and multiple bands playing The Wetlands .
For four years in college she interned at a Fashion PR firm KCD where she learned that the devil is in the details.
The ’80s
One hell of a time to grow up in New York City. Ariel spent 6 long years at The Dwight School (which later would turn out to be great training ground for participating in the music business) She spent days watching Iann Robinson torment the teachers, and Lizzie Grubman torment the students, and she actually has a 7th grade photo of Damon Dash. This was the eighties – way before The Strokes, and The Hilton Sisters passed through the halls of Dwight. The clothes however were very much the same.
On weekends, no one carded at the door and the live music scene in New York involved The Ramones, a thriving Ska scene, long Sunday afternoons at CBGB’s, and plenty of late nights at The Ritz, The Palladium, Nightingales and The New Music Café. It was a great place to fall in love with live music at the perfect time to do so.