Are you putting yourself out there in front of other’s people audiences and getting press for your business? If not, what’s holding you back? Today, I’m sharing how I beat my goal of being featured online 35 times in one year. If you are not showing up in front of new audiences, you’re missing out on huge opportunities, so I hope this post can show you how to start putting yourself out there more.
I also wanted my friend Brittney to be on the podcast today because a lot of my clients, past clients, and a few future clients don’t really have any press or features because whenever I’m working with them, we have this pre-website project call where I’m like, okay, these are things we need to talk about, clarify, things you need to get me before we began, and almost every client I’m like, do you have any press, or content to share, and they’re usually like, no, no. But everyone starts somewhere. I didn’t always have a lot of features.
So, how do we get more press for our business?
Brittney: So, as a small business owner, entrepreneur that’s listening, if you’re just starting out, if you have been in business for two years, three years how ever long it is. I’m sure you have a limited budget of amount of money that you can spend on investing back into the business. So, one of the main reasons why I love PR, and why I think it’s important to do even when you’re just starting out, and you don’t have any press at all, is because it’s free. So, of course, people are paying me to do the PR [press] and the pitching for them. But, you can do this yourself, and we’ll probably talk a little bit about this later of how you can do some of these things yourself.
But, all these press mentions that I’m getting to people when they’re on a podcast. When they’re interviewed for an editorial piece. When they’re on local TV. All of that is free. I will say that it gets a little gray area with working with influencers where if you’re sending them free product or some influencers want to be compensated. That’s a little…And Mozart marketing is in its own separate area. And, there are occasional editorial features, and even podcasts interviews, now, that I’m seeing that they’re asking for payment.
I don’t personally pitch my clients to anything that’s paid. And, if somebody does come back to me, and they’re like hey, we charged this I’m like thanks, but no thanks. Because a lot of times it’s not disclosed, and I don’t feel comfortable.
And, of course press helps with your SEO.
A lot of times you’re getting links back to your website, which is awesome. And, a lot of times these things can lead to direct sales, and me and you were talking a little bit about this before we started recording, but not all press opportunities, necessarily, result in sales. There’s, kind of, like two … And, you can kind of talk about your example, but there’s, kind of, two different purposes of doing press. There’s, Kind of, like the brand building pieces, where it’s like maybe you’re getting a prestigious logo that’s om your website, that’s from a bigger brand. But, [and] they link back to your website, but maybe it doesn’t exactly boost sales a ton.
Then there’s other places where it’s more of going for the ROI, going for the sale, and a lot of times those are a lot more niche, and very targeted to what you’re doing. So, I wouldn’t expect every press opportunity to be like, oh I land this one opportunity, it’s gonna change the trajectory of my business. That would really only happen if you are in Oprah’s favorite things or something like that. That could be a one thing that changes your business other than that, podcast interviews all these other things, it kind of rises and then it falls. Or sometimes it just stays steady, but it helps give you just more of that brand recognition, if that makes sense.
Jess: Yeah. Which [so] Brittney brought up my example. So, at the end of 2016 … End of the year everyone’s like what are my goals for next year? What am I going to do? And, I was in a mastermind, and I was like, I don’t know. I don’t want to launch anything like a course. And, someone recommended well, what if you just worked on getting more press or … I mean, I don’t know if they said that exactly, but they were like, what if you just worked on a certain amount of blog posts or something. Or guest-
Brittney Lynn: Yeah. Exposure.
Jess: …. Blog posts. And, I was like, that sounds good. So, being the over achiever that I am I was like, you know what I’m gonna set a goal to be featured 35 times. I don’t know how I came up with the number 35.
Brittney Lynn: Which, is a crazy amount. That’s a lot.
Jess: It is a lot. And, so that’s when enlisted the help of Brittney. And, I ended up getting like 42, 45 features, and a feature counted as being a guest blog, being a guest on a podcast. You know how sometimes people do round-up blog posts where you don’t actually write it, they just list you. I counted that. And, then virtual summits.
Brittney Lynn: Oh, cool.
Jess: Because I was … There was like two or three that I was in. So, somewhere in the 40s. It was insane.
Brittney Lynn: That’s crazy.
Jess: And, it was really good brand building for me. I saw very, very little ROI from it.
Brittney Lynn: And, I would …. So, I would ask you just of a summary of all of them. Were they more … Were any of them, specific, in targeted to the types of clients that you were wanting to bring in?
Jess: No.
Brittney Lynn: Or were they bigger places?
Jess: They were a lot …. So, I would say a handful maybe ten to 15 were peers. So, just …. It’d be like if you had done a round-up post or whatever and you included me. There were a few bigger ones. I got in Glamour Magazine.
Brittney Lynn: So, I think that …. Yeah I think I had sent that to you, and I was like hey-
Jess: Which, was also Brittney’s doing.
Brittney Lynn: No. Yeah, I found it … Honestly I pitch myself and was like, look at her go. She got the spot.
Jess: So, just some different things, and I mean, some were, I don’t want to say well known like, Jenna Kutcher’s Podcast, or anything, but just some that I’d heard of, but there were a lot that I pitched that I was like, I’ve never heard of this. So, I’m going to pitch it, so that maybe I get my name in front of a whole separate audience.
Brittney Lynn: Sure.
Jess: So, yeah it was those 40 some features were good for brand building, but didn’t really see a jump in followers, my email list, or clients. That it was pretty just average. But, once I didn’t like, okay I reached this goal, now I’m never going to get press again. I have just backed off of the that goal. But, I have been on two podcasts this year that were very, very targeted. There podcasts that talk about business and marketing for health, and fitness professionals. And, just from those two podcasts, I think I’ve gotten five or ten clients.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, that’s amazing.
Jess: Just from those. And, I was like, hold up, I did 40 of these other features in 2017, and they were really good for brand building, but I realized when you do these really niche features that’s where you can see more ROI.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, and I mean, I have the examples of that where I was interviewed on a couple of podcasts where it was specifically two of them were product based entrepreneurs. That’s who the audience was. I was a PR person. I have a service that I have direct experience with that group of people. So, I got a flood of emails in my inbox after I was interviewed on those. Because it was very specific, and targeted. And, so examples for maybe listeners that are listening that work in the health and wellness field, niching down …. Maybe you’re at a place that it doesn’t make sense for you to niche down because I didn’t niche down until two years into business, and still PR for entrepreneurs that’s still, pretty vague.
I could niche down further. But, at the same time, if you’re feeling like you’re not getting traction with things or there’s a particular group of people that you want to help like Yoga for working professional moms. Somebody that is a working professional mom, if they hear you on a podcast, if they read a blog posts, and you’re writing something or saying something that’s targeted exactly to them. They’re gonna pay attention because you’re speaking directly to them whereas if it’s like, I do Yoga for women. Well, it’s half the population. That’s easy to tune you out to be honest, and honestly these types of things help you get other press opportunities as well.
And, it makes it so the more places that you pitch, you can land a lot more of them because you’re only going to be pitching places that make sense for the audience that you’re trying to reach.
If that makes sense because it’s very targeted. It’s hey, this journalist is looking for somebody that does web design for people in the health and wellness industry. Hello. That’s just … There’s not as much competition where if it’s just oh, I’m a web designer for anyone and everyone. Obviously, you could help anyone and everyone, and I think a lot of people get nervous about niching down because they’re like, but I can help all these other people. Those people are still gonna come to you. They’re still pay attention, but if you’re speaking directly to a specific audience, especially, in this PR opportunities, you’re gonna see a lot more traction.
It doesn’t take away from those brand building pieces because those have helped you with these current [new] people that are coming to your website in ways that you just don’t even know because someones not gonna be oh, I saw on your press bar that you were mentioned by Glamour. That made me trust you and made me wanna email you. But, it all works together, but you just have to kind of know your expectations of the things that you’re pitching, and what to expect back.
Jess: Yeah. And, I think its also important, like you said, to think about your audience, and who specifically you’re talking to because if you are personal trainer for moms because you were talking about moms. Yes, you could go be a guest on other fitness podcasts, but how many moms are listening? Whereas if you go to the Mompreneur Podcasts, and you’re like hey, I can talk about how to squeeze in ten minute workouts when you have a toddler or something.
Think about the places that your target audience is listening to, reading, watching, all those things. Not necessarily where you’re an expert.
I think there’s a time and place where it makes sense for you to pitch yourself to things where you’re an expert. Because that does have value, but that’s more brand building pieces. It’s like hey, I’m an expert in the fitness industry, and I’ve been interviewed on these podcasts. But, those aren’t going to turn into sales for you because you’re listening, a bunch of your peers are listening. They’re not gonna hire you because they do the same thing that you do. You need to find where moms listen to podcasts, and honestly, literally, google these things. Google podcasts that moms listen to. Publications that moms listen to. They’ll be a list of 100 blogs, they’ll be a list of 100 podcasts. Join different Facebook groups of these people. Follow them on Instagram. Direct message them on Instagram. Just immerse yourself in where your audience hangs out, then you’ll start to see other places of where you could pitch yourself. And, a lot of times press builds on other press.
So, sometimes you’ll land some press, and then somebody will just invite you to something that you didn’t even have on your mind, but because they saw that you were interviewed on this other thing they’re like oh, I want to interview her for my thing. So, it just kind of builds on itself, which is also, a reason why you [everyone] should have a press page. Because that kind of shares with people that you’re open for press. You’re ready to go, and you’ve been featured in all these places, and honestly even if it’s just guest posts. If you’ve done two guest blog posts on some places that’s like … Guest blog posts and podcasts are the easiest places to get started if you’re just getting started with press. It’s the lowest barrier to entry.
Even if you have a few of those, throw those up there. Really anywhere my name is mentioned-
Jess: It’s on there. It’s up there.
Brittney Lynn: Yes. And, yeah you do the same thing.
Jess: I do. I have a press page. And because I have so many now, I have mine in columns sorted. It used to be my about page was, I’ve been mentioned on this blog, and this blog.
Brittney Lynn: You build it up over time, and really whenever you’re approaching these people, and we can get into more, specific tactics too, but just be a person, and be a human being, and think about how you would wanna be approached if you were getting pitched. Say if this is someone that you haven’t met, you haven’t interacted with, I would suggest starting to try to interact with these people. Social media’s a great place to get started, so they start seeing your name. And, when you go in for the email, it’s not as cold. But, think about what their audience struggles with, and how your services, product, whatever, helps.
Jess: Yup.
Brittney Lynn: How does what you’re doing in the health and wellness industry improve the lives of this working professional mom. Like you said, she has a limited amount of times, like how can she get in exercise in a limited amount of time. Feel confident in herself. Know that she’s getting in some exercise at least. Just think about how you’re changing their lives in any way shape or form. It doesn’t have to be like you’re literally saving their life, but think about that, and if you approach it from that people will want to hear from you. Because, they’re writing their blog or they’re doing their podcast, or they’re writing their online publication, for their audience.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: If you can nail down how you can help them, they’ll listen to you.
Jess: Mm-hmm (affirmative), and I just want to go back real quick to when you were saying like ask them questions, like talk to your audience, what are they … there are, because I have some past clients who are in the health and fitness industry. Shout out to Kristen and Aileen. I have emailed them many a times, like I owe them some Chick-fil-A gift cards or something. I’ve been like hey, like when I started to niche down, I was like, “Hey, I’m starting to niche down, like A, just so you know.” Because, I’d already worked with them at that point.
Brittney Lynn: Right.
Jess: Then, I’ve emailed them again and one time I was like what blogs do you read, what podcasts do you listen to. Kristen especially was like, “These are ones that I listen to, but I also know that these five are ones others listen to.” It was just really, really helpful insight into what they want to hear. Also, when I niched down this podcast, I reached out to several people that they aren’t clients, but they’re people I interact with often on Instagram that are in the health and fitness industry. I was like, “Hey, I’m niching down my podcast. What would make you want to listen?”
Brittney Lynn: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jess: Just assuming that they’re maybe not already listening.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah.
Jess: What would make you, so that I can create content maybe not just on this podcast but if I’m a guest on other podcasts, hey, like I could talk about that topic. Here and somewhere else, so people who aren’t following my podcast still get that insight from me.
Brittney Lynn: Right, yeah, totally. The thing is like, if you’re just getting started and you’re like, “Well, I don’t have a past client that I can ask or something.” Start with Google, you can find a lot with Google, but then find a few people. Like, your target audience, if you don’t know who they are and you don’t know who to follow on social media and online, you need to start there.
Jess: Yeah, yup.
Brittney Lynn: Follow these people and observe for a little bit. You might be able to pick up on some things by just observing, but then once you’ve interacted with them like, yeah, send that, most people want to get a DM on Instagram.
Jess: Yeah!-
Brittney Lynn: Like, they want some interaction. If you’re trying to be helpful, and not asking them to fill out some survey that’s 25 questions. Think about how you would want to be approached if somebody was direct messaging you and it’s brand new. Then, you’ll start to get some ideas. Honestly, a lot of times, once you get a few solid ideas you can take that research and find other things. Like, for podcasts specifically, the related on iTunes is actually really accurate and a lot of those, so it’s like if you find a few podcasts that it’s like, oh, they said that they listened to this podcast. Look at the related. I think this works best on desktop.
Jess: Probably.
Brittney Lynn: I don’t use the Apple podcast app on my phone, I use a separate app [crosstalk 00:21:07]-
Jess: I’m trying to think, I do, but I’m like have I ever scrolled down further to see those-
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, it’s kind of long and you can swipe to the left, or, I don’t know, so on the desktop it’s really, it’s better to search for this. But, say you search for a podcast that you’re like this is exactly what my target audience listens to. Click on the related. A lot of those related ones are going to be on point.
Jess: Nice.
Brittney Lynn: Same thing if you look at related people, like if you look at the host of the podcast. Then, look them up on Instagram, look at the related on Instagram, because then you’ll find a lot more people that are similar to that person that you would maybe want to follow. Also, look at where those people have been interviewed. Look at their press pages. Search their names on iTunes. Actually, that’s another good thing that iTunes does. Apple Podcast, whatever, like …
Jess: Whatever it’s called.
Brittney Lynn: Whatever it’s called, everybody calls it, everybody knows iTunes. If you search a name in iTunes, again on the desktop, not on the app. Well, it’s better on the desktop. If you search a name you will find every single podcast where they have been interviewed.
Jess: What.
Brittney Lynn: Now, if they have a podcast, a lot more pop up.
Jess: Right.
Brittney Lynn: They are the host of the podcast, so it’s a lot to shift through. But, if you look up names of people, this is also something to do with competitors, or people that are similar in your industry. Where it’s like if there’s a personal trainer or a yoga instructor, or whatever it is, that has already gotten some press, maybe you work in similar industries? Look up their name, look up their website and look at their press pages, see where they’ve been interviewed. See what types of topics that they talk about, and maybe you could approach something from a different angle, from what your expertise is. I’m just full of tips, like I could just keep going and going.
Jess: I love this, oh my gosh. Now I know what I’m going to do after we’re done.
Brittney Lynn: I know girl, like I’ll tell you so many more. I could just go for days.
Jess: Okay, so you’ve talked about the searching in iTunes and Google. We’ve found some places, like okay, this is where I’m going to pitch myself.
What can you tell us about press pitching and that kind of process?
Brittney Lynn: Sure, so I create pitch templates for all of my clients. For my clients, primarily what people do is they work with me on a monthly retainer service, where I’m doing everything for them. I’m doing the research, I’m pitching them, following up, et cetera.
Jess: Nice.
Brittney Lynn: I have another thing where I do all of the research, I create the pitch templates, and then they implement it themselves. But, everyone I start with a pitch template, because it’s like if you’re taking this seriously you only have so much time. You’re not a PR person, like me.
Jess: Nope.
Brittney Lynn: … you’re not pitching all the time, so you need to have things simplified. I do have some free pitch templates if you want to promote that.
Jess: Yes, yes.
Brittney Lynn: … you could put that in the show notes for podcasts, guest blog posts, there’s like a product based one. Anyways, I create a pitch template for everyone, so done the research. Basically, it’s like a quick introduction to like who you are. Summarize in one sentence what it is that you do, who you help, and how you help them.
Jess: Okay.
Brittney Lynn: You have to have that down before you’re ready to do any type of PR, so if you don’t have that nailed down, figure that out first. Then, say why it is that you’re emailing them. Like, “I’m pitching myself as a podcast guest for your podcast.” Then, I try to make it unique, something unique, for that podcast for the person that you’re reaching out to, for that audience. Then, list your bio, previous places where you’ve been mentioned, if you have that. If you don’t, don’t worry about it. Sample topics that you can talk about. Depending on what it is that you’re pitching, you’ll kind of angle that a little differently. Some podcasts, it’s going to be very clear that it’s like this is one topic that you’re going to pitch.
Jess: Right.
Brittney Lynn: Or, a guest blog post. Some places I give a few topics, and I literally write out the headline of what the podcast title episode could be.
Jess: Nice.
Brittney Lynn: Because, if you don’t do that and if you kind of just say, “Yeah, I could talk about like whatever you want me to.” They’re going to ignore your email. They want to pick from those … make it as easy as possible for the host.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: Obviously, do your research ahead of time and know what type of topic they’re going to want to hear about. If you see something that it’s like a audience will get a lot of value out of, but they haven’t interviewed a guest on that topic yet and you’re an expert on that, that’s what to go with.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, include your bio, links to check you out. The topics that you can talk about, and then close it up. I have that template, I use Gmail, it’s, most people listening hopefully use Gmail.
Jess: Hopefully use Gmail.
Brittney Lynn: You can do it actually with Outlook as well, I know, but I insert that template into the canned responses.
Jess: Yes.
Brittney Lynn: Which is a free thing that you can implement on Gmail, and it’s free in Outlook as well. When I’m ready to pitch myself or one of my clients for things, I pull up that template, because the things of like bio, the topics that you’re talking about, your little brief introduction. All those things, you’re going to want to mention in every single email, but there’s no point in rewriting that same-
I do like to make every press pitch unique to the people that I’m pitching, to make sure they know that I took time to write this out.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: Then, I use Boomerang, which is also a free tool that you can, it’s a Chrome extension, a Google Chrome extension. I will check mark that for that to bring it back into my email inbox if it hasn’t gotten a reply in like two weeks or something, so that triggers me to know that I need to followup. Because, I will say, any type of PR press you’re pitching, doesn’t matter, you need to be following up.
Jess: Yup.
Brittney Lynn: 40% of the places that I land my clients is because I followed up.
Jess: Nice.
Brittney Lynn: Think about all the places that we would have missed out on if I wouldn’t have sent a quick little, like it’s usually a one line follow up, and then they’re like, “Oh, yeah, this is great, like thanks for following up.” Nobody has ever said, “Oh my god, I cannot believe you followed up.”
Jess: “How dare you.”
Brittney Lynn: Like, “You piece of trash.” Yeah, nobody has ever said that. I think that people have a lot of fear around following up. Especially when you’re pitching yourself, it’s intimidating.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: Also, Boomerang kind of helps with the intimidation factor as well, because you can schedule emails to go out in advance. Something that I do, because sometimes I get intimidated by pitching things. I will schedule it out to go out two hours later, or the next day or something. You can go back in and un-schedule it at any point in time before the time has hit where it’s going to be sent out. In my brain I tell myself, okay I’m going to schedule it. I can go in and un-schedule it if I get too scared.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: 10 times out of 10 I forget, like I’m onto the next task, I’m not thinking about that email. It’s scheduled, it’s out of my brain, I’m not even thinking about it. If you’re pitching yourself it kind of just takes a little bit of that fear away, because you know you can go in and un-schedule it, but the fact is you’re not going too, so.
Jess: Right, you’re not going too. What do you usually say in the follow up, you’re little one liner?
Brittney Lynn: It just usually says like hey, name, please people, use peoples names. Spell them correctly, that’s just a courtesy. It’s just a nice thing to do. It’s just, use peoples names. If you can find it, sometimes you can’t find somebody’s name, but podcasts hosts all that kind of stuff, their names are out there. You need to use their name.
Jess: Yes.
Brittney Lynn: Say, “Hi name, hope you’re having a great week. Just wanted to follow up on an email that I sent you a few weeks ago regarding being a potential guest on your podcast. I included my previous email below if you have any other questions, please let me know.” I usually reply to my sent email, so that they have all the information below.
Jess: Yeah, so they don’t have to go hunting.
Brittney Lynn: Exactly, and that follow up email, that could be a template as well. Replace the name and say their actual name. Some people that I work with, I’ve done as little as five hours a month for people, where it’s like if they just want to be pitched to podcasts. If you can get onto podcasts and you can start getting press in just little as five hours a month. It takes a little bit of work to set some of this stuff up, to do some of the research initially, which is why I started offering the PR intensive where it’s like people are set up, where it’s like okay, now I just have to [inaudible 00:30:49], that’s it.
Jess: Yup.
Brittney Lynn: Once you have all that set up and you have a lot of places researched already, because that’s where a lot of the time is spent. Is finding the right people to pitch, finding the emails, all that kind of stuff. Once you have that set, spend an hour on Friday sending out a few pitch emails, following up with a few people, like that’s it. That’s all you have to do. I think that it’s, you know, obviously I do PR for a living, but I just think it’s one of the most important ways that you can share your story and get in front of the right people. It’s one of the most authentic ways too, because it’s like you’re just sharing your knowledge and sharing your expertise, and sharing who you are.
Whereas things like social media, don’t get me wrong, I love social media. Social media is how you and me met.
There is a place for social media, but it’s getting harder and harder to get sales off of social media. That’s why PR matters.
The algorithm is hurting everyone, and these press things, they can really start to drive a lot of traffic. Increase your SEO, which helps your organic reach. You can really start to build relationships with these people, and especially things like podcasts. Hearing someones voice, it’s such an intimate thing. We’re in someones ears right now, in their headphones. That’s just crazy. It’s a very intimate thing where it’s like people get to know you a lot better than a paid Facebook ad. I’m not dissing paid advertising, like there’s a time and place for that.
Jess: Right, right, but it’s just it’s different.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, it’s different, and it can really, it has long lasting effects. I have a client where he was interviewed on a podcast over a year ago, and he’s still getting referrals from it.
Jess: Nice.
Brittney Lynn: Which is insane.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: That’s crazy, and these things live on forever, whereas social media posts, all that kind of stuff, they kind of just fall by the wayside.
Jess: A day or two-
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, they die.
Jess: A day or two, gone.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, exactly.
Jess: I just want to point out you said this can help with SEO, like I had also mentioned at the beginning of the episode. I just want to put this out there as someone who’s done, well now I have, I’ve done one podcast before and currently I run two podcasts. It is important to actually share when you are featured.
Brittney Lynn: Oh, my gosh, can you, yes, this will, yeah, as a podcast host myself, too. In Life podcast, you want to check it out, Jess as interviewed.
Jess: What what.
Brittney Lynn: Episode 10? No.
Jess: Yeah, it’s one of the first like-
Brittney Lynn: We’ll put the-
Jess: We’ll also put that in there.
Brittney Lynn: If you want to find out what a day in her life is like.
Jess: Yes.
Brittney Lynn: That will do wonders for your relationship with that host, and here’s the thing. You never know who knows people.
Jess: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Brittney Lynn: No matter how small the podcast is, or small publication, whatever it is. Sharing that because they’re counting on you sharing that.
Jess: Yeah.
Brittney Lynn: They want more exposure as well, so share those podcast episodes, share those blog post to your audience because you never know. That person that interviewed you, a year later, their podcast could be huge. They could be sending you referrals, and if you didn’t do your due diligence and share the podcast episode, they’re maybe not going to think of you because they’re gonna be, like, well, Jess didn’t care. You didn’t share the podcast episode. Those are small things that make a huge difference.
Jess: They do, and so my first podcast that I ever had, which was two, no, two years ago? It doesn’t matter. Whatever. I interviewed people every single episode, and I think I did — I think it was 60 episodes total, and I would say only about half. I’d count it. I tallied who shared.
Brittney Lynn: That’s wild. And you made it easy on them too, because you gave them graphics. Because I’ve obviously pitched a lot of podcasts before. I have been through the wringer. I could have a whole podcast talking about just some of these nightmare experiences, but if they’re emailing you, and they’re giving, here’s a click to tweet, here’s some social media graphics, they’re making it as easy as possible on you. The least you could do is share it on your Instagram. Put a link in your email list. Share it on Facebook. Whatever it is.
Jess: I had a few people who were, like, I just didn’t feel like putting … I wasn’t sure if my audience wanted to hear from me. What? What?
Brittney Lynn: Then why did you do a podcast interview? I’m so confused.
Jess: Right, that’s what I thought. I was, like, that doesn’t make any sense. So I know that sometimes people feel like, I don’t want to keep sharing all these features ’cause people will think I’m bragging, and I’m like, you’re not bragging. If you’re talking about different things, not wildly different, but if you’re talking about hey, here’s how to get a quick 10 minute workout in when you have toddlers, and on this podcast you talk about here’s five quick meals, or how to exercise as a family. Those are three different topics you could share on Instagram, Facebook. They’re going to appeal to different people.
Brittney Lynn: Right. And that’s valuable content. You’re not being braggadocious, and saying, “Look at me. I was interviewed on those podcasts.” No, you’re sharing it because you were sharing good content out of this. I’m gonna share this podcast because I shared a ton of tips in this episode that’s gonna be valuable for anyone, really.
So, honestly, you’re doing your audience a disservice if you’re not sharing these press features, because they want to hear from you.
This is content that they want to hear from. And even if maybe you did a guest blog post about something, but then you also did a podcast episode on a similar topic which you definitely should be doing, repurpose the things that you’re doing, some people didn’t read that blog post.
Jess: Right, ’cause not everyone likes to read. Not everyone likes to listen.
Brittney Lynn: Exactly. So the people that want to listen are, “Oh, I’ll listen to this podcast episode.” Or vice versa. And especially when you share it on social media, not everybody sees everything that you post. I hate to break it to you, but-
Jess: Sorry.
All of your followers are not seeing everything. I sometimes go back and share things.
I was interviewed on [inaudible 00:38:01] six months ago because I have new followers. New people are following me that they don’t know about these things of where I’ve been interviewed, which is another reason why I [inaudible 00:38:10] a PressPage, so then they’ll have one place to go to.
Jess: Yes. And speaking of the PressPage, one of the things I did when I was doing my 35 features, I had a Google spreadsheet, and every time I pitched, I put that name in the column and what date I pitched them. I had a column for yes or no. I also had a column for when it went live, and then the link. I could keep track of, I pitched this podcast already, so I don’t go pitch them again. You know, whatever.
Brittney Lynn: I have a spreadsheet with every single client. The same type of thing. This is where I keep all the research as well. I keep exact track. I find the spreadsheet is the easiest thing to keep track of.
Jess: It is.
Brittney Lynn: Some people use Asana if you set up a separate project for them, or Trello. If that’s easier for you, do it that way, but you need to be tracking it, ’cause the worst thing that you could do is pitch something that you already got a “no” from four months prior.
Jess: Yes. Exactly.
Brittney Lynn: So keep tack, and then that also helps you with following up as well. If you don’t use Boomerang, it’s like, oh, I pitched this person two weeks ago. I should follow up.
Jess: Make sure you grab those links and put them on a PressPage. Not just the name. Actually link to either the website or if they don’t have a website-
Brittney Lynn: Give them the SEO back.
Jess: You can help them. Just make sure you do that. And it doesn’t have to be, oh my gosh, maybe you are feeling brave and you also want to try for 35 features. You don’t have to do it every single feature, every single week or whatever.
Brittney Lynn: Do it once a quarter. Do it once a quarter, update your website, or once a month. Just make sure it’s a routine thing that you’re trying to update. I know whenever I get the link, we’re live. Podcast episode, or guest blog post, or whatever, I just forward it to my assistant and she just takes care of it right then. But maybe some of you don’t have that. Just put it on your calendar every quarter, at the end of the quarter, at the beginning of the quarter, update my press stuff. And that’s totally fine.
Jess: So is there anything that people should avoid? Are there any big mistakes that you see people making a lot when it comes to either pitching or just press in general?
Brittney Lynn: Yeah, I think not following up is a huge press mistake that people make. They get too in their heads, and don’t get me wrong, I do this with myself too, which is another reason why sometimes people hire me, Because they’re, well if I get a no, it’s really Brittney getting the no. It doesn’t hurt the ego. I’m pitching on behalf of them, so it’s not me getting the no, it’s them getting the no.
Jess: It’s a good trade. It’s a good trade.
Brittney Lynn: Exactly. Honestly, I need my own PR person, ’cause I [inaudible 00:41:16] right now. But following up is huge and important. You are not — unless somebody has emailed you and said no, we’re not interested in any follow up. Follow up is so important, and just don’t take it personally. Sometimes people are on vacation. Sometimes they had a funeral and they’ve been out for two weeks.
Jess: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Brittney Lynn: Sometimes they just accidentally deleted your email. Sometimes it went to spam. You just don’t know what’s going on a lot of times. If I do get a no, it’s like a no, not right now. It’s just not good timing for whatever we send and just be kind back. Just treat people like human beings. I think a lot of people get in their head about pitching to journalists, and pitching to even podcast hosts. All that kind of stuff is like, no, they’re so important and they’re the gatekeeper and all these things. And, at the end of the day, they just want to share good information to their audience, and they just want to share good stories. So if you have a good story, you have an interesting background, you have a unique way of sharing something, they want to hear from you.
Jess: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Brittney Lynn: You’re not gonna get all of the press mentions that you pitch. You’ve got 42 places, it’s like, Oh my God, how many places did you pitch?
Jess: Too many.
You’re just not going to land every press opportunity.
Jess: No.
Brittney Lynn: You need to be okay with that, and just know that that’s part of the press process. Like I said, a lot of times when I do get no’s, it’s really just no, not right now. The editorial calendar’s booked, or I just had somebody on this podcast where we just talked about a similar topic, so can you pitch me four months from now to space it out? And sometimes it is just a flat-out no. And it’s okay. Move on. There’s plenty of other places.
Jess: Next pitch.
Brittney Lynn: Yeah. Exactly. I think those would be the two press mistakes that I see most often.
Jess: Why don’t you tell us where we can find you, follow you, and about your little products that people can find.
Brittney Lynn: Yes, yes. So I do have some freebies. I have the pitch template freebie. I think it’s four pitch templates. You can download for free. Brittneyllynn.com/digitallounge. That will be to the freebie for the pitch templates. And then brittneyllynn.com/healthpodcast is how we talked about research. I’ve done a lot of research where you can get access to a spreadsheet of health and wellness related podcasts that you can go ahead and pitch. It includes the name of the podcast, the host name, a link to their website, and a brief description. It doesn’t have the contact information there because, sorry, you’re going to have to do a little bit of work, and I’m not going to be selling people’s contact info.
Jess: Nope.
Brittney Lynn: That’s not how I roll. But, yeah, that can give you a little bit of a headstart, picking up the pitch template. And then you have the podcast research. You really have no excuse, right?
Jess: Right.
Brittney Lynn: And then, yeah, @Brittneyllynn, everywhere on Twitter, Instagram, brittneyllynn.com, and then Day in the Life podcast if you want to find out what people’s days are like.
