Our Story
Mainland was established in 2019, but our story starts more than a decade earlier, when Mainland CEO Nick Powills worked for another PR firm.
After pitching some decidedly forward-thinking ideas to deaf ears, Nick was fed up with the PR world’s refusal to embrace a changing communications landscape. Social media was a fad, his boss told him, and digital publications couldn’t compete with their print counterparts. Nick disagreed. That was Nick’s why.
So, in 2008, Nick struck out on his own and built a small consulting firm called No Limit Media Consulting. Drawing from a career in journalism and public relations, Nick imbued his company with a spirit of innovation and modernization and a dedication to compelling storytelling that continues to drive the business today.
Today, our Why Now is built from our integrated approach, scalable pricing model, and a service delivery unlike any other agency. Ready to stop wasting your budget? Ready for your last agency?
Why Mainland?
There are a million agencies out there. Thus, picking the right one becomes more challenging. We have studied, extensively, why brands stay with an agency. We feel as if we have taken the proper steps to nail this. How? By prioritizing the following:
Story Hunters
Great Talent
Great Tech
Results Focused
Meet the Visionaries
With talent, we have invested in our location, in our ongoing training, in the implementation of Traction/EOS within our four walls, in our recruiting, and in sustaining talent and creativity.
Carson McQuillan
Director, Media Relations
Dan Rothfeld
President
Julie Maw
Vice President, Accounts
Lauren Turner
Vice President, Accounts
Nick Powills
CEO
Nicole Chasin
Vice President, Digital
Sharon Powills
Chief Financial Officer
Additionally, we manage through our core values:
We have built out Mainland’s technology as a central content command center for our clients. From the connection of APIs (Facebook, Google, LinkedIn), to ease of content distribution, to dialed-in advertising into the content, we are deeply invested in the technology.
As we grow, we are constantly challenging the results of the previous quarter and year with better, more powerful goals. Whether it is more placements or more engagement from social campaigns, each quarter we challenge the results, just as our clients do. We also drive home the people stories, because brands don’t sell brands, people do.
Here’s what else we are proud of
- We are experts at local and trade press. This helps us elevate stories through earned media, as we book nearly 100 placements per week.
- We want to be your last agency, so the models we put in place will be designed to win on your behalf:
- Strategy first
- Relationship, Service, Results
- Executive Sponsors Providing Oversight on the Account
- Our experience in candidate journeys and the studying of measurable data will provide benefit in this model.
- We believe that brands have failed at social media and content marketing in that the content and media is not social and not marketed. We will leverage this thought process to win.
- We have the digital unicorn – innovation is very important to our business. Things won’t remain the same forever
- We run the 1851 and Estatenvy publications. Thus, we are not only the publisher, but the influencer.
- We believe in people stories, consistency of press, and in our ability to hunt great stories.
- We are laser-focused on innovation. Things won’t remain the same forever.
We know that every relationship requires work and flexibility. At Mainland, we are committed to finding the best possible pathway to winning.
By now, you should understand why and how we stand out.
You’ll often hear us talk about our commitment to delivering the best service, strategy, relationship and results. These tenets power our work, with the strategy serving as the driving force. We will create a blueprint for the overarching ideas and programs we will implement throughout the year and develop a strategic calendar each quarter built around our mutually agreed-upon goals.
After PR came Technology &
Content Integration
At a time when many brands were scaling back operations to survive the recession, No Limit offered its clients a new and better way to put their best stories in front of new audiences and attract increasingly rare leads. That work did not go unnoticed, and No Limit quickly became one of the few emerging companies to not only survive the Great Recession, but to grow. And it grew a lot. Before long, No Limit Media Consulting became a full-fledged PR firm called No Limit Agency. Soon after that, No Limit introduced 1851 Franchise, a business-to-business magazine and content-marketing platform that quickly became a hub for the franchise world and a powerful marketing tool for No Limit’s clients. Then, No Limit’s ESTATENVY magazine did the same for the real estate industry.
Now, that company is much more than just a PR agency. It is publishing, it is digital marketing, it is website development, it is data analytics, it is sales strategy and so much more.
And now, it is Mainland, a storytelling consultancy built to rewrite the definition of content marketing.
Think of Mainland as Voltron, the ultimate super robot combining the powers of all the best services No Limit has introduced over the past decade-plus. The only thing missing is the super sword. But we’re working on that.
How Mainland is Results Driven
From day one, our focus has been on a consistency of strong placements. How do we achieve this? We know journalists hate follow-up phone calls that start with, “have you seen my press release?” so, we reversed it. We started calling with the story first and, if interested, we followed up with more information. While the call-first approach can be intimidating, it is critical to our success. But the pitching process won’t work without a great story. This is why we say “brands don’t sell brands, people do.” We have to nail the human-interest stories in order to have a fighting chance at securing meaningful media coverage.
With great stories in hand, we researched consistency as it related to results, trying to find definition to the value of public relations. We took Checkers & Rally’s and looked at weeks when we secured press and weeks we didn’t. When we booked press, leads went up and when we didn’t, leads went down. This is the first part of the puzzle, the next piece is studying the analytics to create insights and identify areas for maximization of budget.
Now, comes making you the leader in your category. How do we do that?
- Clearly define the “why you“/”why now.” Clearly, you have success stories, but are lacking the discipline in positioning.
- Hunt for amazing stories – humans first (webinars, validators).
- Create a strategy for telling those stories.
- Tell them.
- Merchandize the media.
- Give the company the tools to continue the story
- Get the Right Personas in the Right Markets Talking About You
- Hunt for amazing stories – humans first (webinars, validators).
- Create a strategy for telling those stories.
…and then we apply the Mainland way.
Get in Touch
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Work For Mainland
We love working with awesome brands and awesome people. Are you one?
Senior Account Supervisor
Chicago
Do you love working with people? Is client relations your thing? Do you have experience pitching the media? Do you love the idea of helping a company grow? Then you may be the right person for us.
Account Executive
Chicago
In the Account Executive position you will be the agent for achieving concrete public relations results for our roster of clients.
Account Manager
Chicago
We’re looking for a client services pro, with experience managing cross-channel marketing activities. Knowledge of PR, digital marketing and content; the ability to build strong relationships with...
Writer
Chicago
As an agency driven by the written word, we do countless writing projects for our clients every day, including but not limited to: press releases, bios, bylined articles, pitches, website copy, advertorial copy, blog posts, social media calendars and more.
SEO Manager
Chicago
This position will be responsible for the following: Managing the SEO content arm 1851franchise.com, estatenvy.com, and newly launched digital publications); managing Google Analytics; supporting project management; writing content and working with clients.…
Director of Social Media
Chicago
The Director of Social Media will be responsible for creating valuable and engaging content across our clients’ social media platforms. The Director of Social Media will work closely...