Who is Linger?: The Latest PR & Marketing Firm for Kansas City
Linger around & stay awhile
Do you know who Linger is? No, I'm not talking about The Cranberries song. I'm talking about the firm in Kansas City, Missouri that is changing the game for small businesses and nonprofits everywhere. Linger is the firm that assists companies in finding and elevating their voice to gain greater heights. We are a firm showing professionals that it is possible to have it all and inspiring them to be their best selves.
Linger first came about as an idea in December of 2018 in conversation between myself and Creative Specialist Bruce Matlock with the desire to expand cannabis education and lessen the stigma surrounding the substance. However, life got in the way as it often does, and the idea was set aside for the time being. In the summer of 2022 Keri Daughenbaugh, our Creative Director, and I were approached by a nonprofit organization, STRIVE4You (S4Y), to help assist in a rebranding effort, and this experience fueled us to begin the deep dive into who and what is out there assisting small organizations with limited marketing knowledge. S4Y has an impactful mission to make sports recreation accessible for all persons with a visual impairment. Despite their best efforts, S4Y was running into problems that most nonprofits face: lack of funding, lack of marketing knowledge, and lack of time to devote to marketing due to wearing too many hats at once. In August of 2022, Linger was officially founded with the mission to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations elevate their voice and grow internal success.
According to the National Center on Charitable Statistics, an estimated 30% of nonprofits fail within the first 10 years. Forbes offers an even more troubling statistic stating over half of all chartered nonprofits fail or stall within a few years, blaming leadership issues and lack of strategic planning³. This is a frightening statistic! How many organizations focused on improving the world around them fail due to lacking basic knowledge and infrastructure?
Small businesses, unfortunately, suffer a similar fate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of small businesses will fail within the first 10 years as well¹. In 2014, a CBInsights analysis of 101 startups polled founders on why their businesses failed: a shocking 14% failed due to poor marketing, 17% failed due to lacking a business model, and 42% failed due to not being able to connect to a target audience². Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. Everyone in the Linger family stems from a small Midwestern or Southern town and as such are well versed in the importance of supporting small businesses, because we know they are vital to economic growth in rural communities.
Linger family pictured above in order from left to right: Chelsea Wheeler, Alyssa Kohne, Justin Moser, Bruce Matlock, Brooke Tarrants, and Keri Daughenbaugh
Linger wants to help nonprofits and small businesses not only succeed in thought leadership and profit but build the skill set needed to pursue success internally. We are passionate about accessible and affordable marketing, and work with clients at all price points, finding the most effective solutions to fit their budgets. Although we do offer retainer pricing, unlike most firms, we also implement a strategic process crafted to help organizations further build out their business internally. We assist clients with elevating their voice through brand planning, navigating the ins and outs of traditional and digital marketing, and gaining traction within their target audiences.
Linger is a public relations and marketing firm that is small business and nonprofit focused based in the Kansas City, Missouri and Denver, Colorado. We are driven by our ethical and moral values to provide the best possible service to our clients. We believe in building long-term relationships with our clients and working together to achieve their goals, while also improving the world around us spiritually, mentally, and physically. We want to attract your target audience and entice them to linger with you. Linger is a firm that prides ourselves on inclusivity and we welcome clients from all walks of life and industries.
To emulate a simpler time, let us connect and linger around awhile.