Churning out your own content is great, but having the social proof and credibility of a media mention is absolute gold.
Sometimes, as business owners, we overlook more traditional means of publicity because at first glance it might not seem like the right fit for our company. Or we might not be sure what to do with that publicity once we get it.
Today on the Stories in Small Business podcast, I’m chatting with Christina Nicholson, a former reporter turned PR entrepreneur, about the importance of getting on local media–even if you’re an online business, how to earn profit from your publicity, how to approach journalists so they’ll say yes and so much more.
Christina is also one of the speakers at The Content Experiment Summit in March 2021. Sign up to get on the waiting list so you can be one of the first to register. Registration opens in late February. If you’re listening to this episode after the fact, you can sign up to be on the waiting list for the next round!
Mentioned in This Episode
About Christina Nicholson
Christina Nicholson is a TV host who helps business owners grow by reaching their ideal customers or clients through the power of media without spending big bucks on advertising. After 10 years as a TV anchor and reporter, Christina started her PR agency, Media Maven. She is also the host of the Become A Media Maven podcast and the founder of Podcast Clout, a podcast database that makes it easier for PR professionals to build podcast pitch lists.
You can follow Christina on her lifestyle blog, Christina All Day, or on her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Transcript
Abby Herman: If you’re new to the podcast, welcome. I work really hard to bring you informative and to the point content because let’s face it, no one has time for fluff these days. But did we ever really, if you like what you hear, hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss another episode. Today on the podcast, I am thrilled to welcome Christina Nicholson. She’s the speaker at the upcoming Content Experiment Summit in March, talking all about media and public relations. Because while turning out your own content is great, having the social proof and credibility of a medium mention his gold. But before I go any further, let me tell you a bit about the summit.
The Content Experiment Summit is a five day summit for coaches and course creators who are tired of feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by their content. And the summit features about 25 speakers who are sharing bite sized tips and tricks on how to get a better ROI on your time and financial investments in content and marketing. There are so many people out there telling you what’s right and what’s not. It’s really noisy, I know. And often we’re listening to the same people over and over and over again talking about the same things in the same way. That’s what I think makes the Content Experiment Summit so different. I intentionally looked for business owners who we haven’t heard from a lot of business owners who have amazing ideas, stellar results, and so much knowledge to share. But we don’t hear from them because so many summits, conferences, podcasts and partnerships, focus on email list size, social media following, and other really arbitrary numbers that have nothing to do with the impact they could give you. I believe in letting other voices shine. So I worked really hard to make that happen.
Yeah, you’re gonna recognize some of the names that you’ll see on the summit. But I’ll bet you’ll see a lot of new faces too. You can sign up for the waiting list right now at thecontentexperiment.com/summit. Registration begins at the end of February. And while the summit is free, there is an opportunity to purchase an all access pass, where you’ll get some extra goodies from speakers networking and co working opportunities and more. A portion of all the all access past sales will go to Women of Color Connecting, an organization that builds bridges between women of color and those in positions to open doors. Now, I’m not sharing who all the speakers are just yet, but I will share that everyone you have heard from so far on the podcast this year is on the speaker lineup. And so is today’s guest, Christina Nicholson.
Like I said, Christina is speaking on media and public relations and how to get yourself on podcasts. Today, though, Christina is talking about the importance of getting on local media, even if you’re an online business, how to earn profit from your publicity, how to approach journalists so that they’ll say yes, and so much more. Let me formally introduce you to Christina. Before we get into the interview, Christina Nicholson is a TV host who helps business owners grow by reaching their ideal customers or clients through the power of traditional and new media without spending big bucks on advertising. Christina started her PR agency, Media Maven, after working as a TV anchor and reporter for more than 10 years with an infant and toddler at home. In four years, she grew Media Maven to a million dollar business with a remote team and added another baby at home during that time. Christina is also host of the Become A Media Maven podcast, and the founder of Podcast Clout, a podcast database that makes it easier for PR professionals to build podcast pitch lists. Now without further ado, let’s hear from Christina Nicholson. Hi, Christina, thank you so much for joining me today.
Christina Nicholson: Hi Abby, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to chat with you
Abby Herman: Yes, me too. So I’ve already officially introduced you. But if you could share with listeners, what you do and who you do it for?
Christina Nicholson: Yeah, so long story short, I help business owners get in the news without spending money on advertising. My backgrounds in TV, I was a TV reporter and anchor for over 10 years. So basically, I took what I knew made a good story, what we talked about in our morning meetings, what we knew we were going to cover in the news. And I said, This is not how a lot of publicists are pitching me this. These are not the kind of emails I’m getting in my inbox. I wanted a more flexible schedule. So I said, let me just do this. for other people. I’ve been on the other side of it. So it can’t be that hard.
Abby Herman: And so how do you work with clients right now.
Christina Nicholson: So right now I work with clients in a variety of ways. The main bread and butter of my business is my PR agency, Media Maven, I have a team of about 10 people now. And we basically just take all of the work off of your plate, we talk to you about your business, about your brand, about your goals, we find those newsworthy story elements out of conversations that we have out of what’s happening in the media, what is the current news cycle, and we pitch you we get you to be a guest on podcasts like this one. We get you on the news, newspaper, magazine, online articles, TV, the whole thing. So that’s the main part of my business. These are obviously for business owners who have a marketing budget, these rates start at $4500 a month, and they go up from there, depending on how many media outlets we target, how many publicists are on your team, that sort of thing. And I found a lot of people were reaching out to me saying, hey, I want this, but I don’t have a budget for it. So that’s when I created an online course, which you can just you know- it’s the Media Mentoring Program, I didn’t get too creative on the name. And it just, you just kind of take the course you show up in the Facebook group. And it’s kind of do it yourself.
And then after that, when I started going through coaching programs myself, I was like, I like talking to somebody, I like somebody who knows exactly where I’m at exactly where I want to be. And they like, tell me how to get there. So we kind of added an in between of the online course and the agency where it’s done with you, where we’ll make introductions to our contacts, we’ll build your media list and give you the contact information you need. And we’ll get on calls with you, you email us a pitch and we’ll work it out and send it back to you. We basically just tell you what buttons to push, and we give you the buttons and you just push the button. So we work with clients in a variety of ways.
Abby Herman: Yes, I love that you have the different levels. And I also know from experience that those media lists are probably one of the most difficult things to get your hands on. And there’s a lot of research that goes on behind the scenes if you don’t have this context already. So that takes away a huge chunk of the time for the business owner who’s trying to bootstrap a little bit.
Christina Nicholson: Yeah, and and the media lists, they really are a time saver. And sometimes it’s not just the contact information. Sometimes it’s actually like an email introduction, because we may know somebody, but we definitely don’t share media lists or contacts. Unless we know you’ve gone through the online course. And you’ve gone over your pitches with us. Because we just don’t want to embarrass ourselves, you know what I mean? Like I don’t want to share a contact and them be like, “Oh, I learned how to pitch from Christina”. And they didn’t really learn because they didn’t do the work. Like that’s a bad reflection of me. So I make sure we make sure people we work with are well versed on how to pitch.
Abby Herman: Yes. So how does the way that you work with your clients and the way that you run your business, the agency side, the course? How does that help you to live the lifestyle that you want?
Christina Nicholson: Well, I am chatting with you in my pajama pants right now. So that’s one way. Honestly, at the beginning, it was hard because at the beginning, I was too scared to build a team. I was too scared to trust other people. I was too scared to give other people money. I wanted to keep the money because it was inconsistent. I didn’t know how much I was going to make the next month. But again, you hire coaches, you enroll in programs, you learn more, you learn how to do things a little bit better and smarter. So I now with the agency, and with the online course- I mean the online course that’s self sufficient. It’s an online course in a Facebook group, you don’t really need me for that. I already created that. I’ll get a notification when you post in Facebook. So that’s easy. The mentoring part of it, and the agency work is all possible because of my team. I mean, I don’t do any of the servicing anymore. I mean yes, obviously I help. I jump in there, every once in a while. I wrote an article this morning for a couple of clients that were included in it. So I do do a little bit. But every client that comes in, they have a dedicated publicist, they have a director of operations, who is in their corner who is working for them. So I’m very much at this point working on the business and not in the business.
And that gives me time when you pay people to help you service your clients, it frees up your time. So you can do things that A only you can do, and B that you actually want to do or that you enjoy. So just in growing the business by growing the team, I have been able to live the lifestyle I want and my business model as well, Abby. So I never wanted an office with employees. Because that’s honestly what I hated. I remember when I got out of news and I worked at a PR agency for six months before starting my own, I was like, “This is so stupid, that I have to drive an hour to sit in front of a computer to drive an app” like that, what a waste of two hours a day to sit in front of a computer, like I have that at home. So when I started building my team, I knew that I wanted everybody to work from wherever they wanted to work. And remember, this was like six years ago before working from home was like this epiphany that everybody just discovered- work because of the pandemic. But I wanted everybody to work from home. And I wanted the best people on my team. If I had an office that people had to report to, then like, I was very limited, like within a 25 mile radius of who could be on my team. And I have the best team, because I am not hindered by geography. So that’s another reason. And I wanted a flexible lifestyle. That’s why I got out of news. That’s why I started my own business. And I know that’s what people want. So I’m not gonna have my team work specific hours in a specific place wearing a specific uniform. I mean, when you give them freedom to just do what they’re good at and do what they know, not only do things work, but they work well. And people are happy and people are getting paid. So I wanted to make sure that my business model not only gave me freedom, but gave my team freedom as well.
Abby Herman: So I so agree I you know, every once in a while, it crosses my mind that, you know, having an office outside of my home might help me be more productive. But then I’m like, No, because then I actually have to put on shoes and real pants. And you know, I can’t you know, I mean. I could like just go to work with a bun in my hair. But yeah, it’s just not appealing. I agree. I love that. I love that when I hired an assistant last fall, and when I hired her I wanted her to be within the same state because I didn’t want to have to deal with the tax issues and payroll and all of that across state lines. And so she is, you know, somewhat local to me, but she loves it. She’s like, I didn’t know that I could work at home and I could be in my pajamas all day. And I’m like, Yeah, I don’t care.
Christina Nicholson: I was watching, I think it was yesterday, Suze Orman was on the Today Show. And Hoda and Jenna were talking about like people working from bed and Suze Orman said “I wrote 10 best selling books from bed. I was literally in bed while I wrote the book”. And it’s just like this mindset of like having to babysit employees in an office between certain hours like you can get- If you’re good at what you do, You can get work done anywhere at any time wearing anything.
Abby Herman: Absolutely. Yes, yes. So I want to talk about PR and specifically PR for small business. And I told you right before I hit record that I actually- that’s what I went to school for. That’s where my degrees in public relations. I did it for about five years after college before I went down the teaching route, and then the Small Business route. But when I was in college, this was like 93,94,95. I graduated in 95. One of the big projects that we had to do was it was like kind of like our senior project was a group of us we had to create a whole media campaign for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And we went all out we somehow got our hands on the crash test dummies. So we were the crash test dummies around campus. We were trying to promote like seatbelt wearing and all of that because it wasn’t a law back then. And that was like what like 25,26, 27 years ago. It makes me feel really old. Was it really that long ago? oh my god it was. things are so different now and I remember in school too you know, Peggy was one of my instructors Peggy P-. I can’t believe I remember her name and she like- “you go to bring the big gift basket and bring the balloons with the press release, the written press release” that we’re sending out because email wasn’t really a thing back then. Things are so different now. Can you explain a little bit about What public relations is and what it looks like right now in 2021. Versus back in the day.
Christina Nicholson: My explanation is not going to be from a PR standpoint because unlike you, I didn’t go to school for PR. No, I didn’t, I went to school for journalism. I didn’t -I never took a PR class. I have been told recently on Twitter, by somebody who listens to my podcast, Become A Media Maven, that she is in PR school now. And she said, listening to your podcast makes me feel like everything I’m learning right now is so outdated. And-
Abby Herman: I bet it is, too.
Christina Nicholson: I believe it. Yes. You mentioned the header on my website, it says “stop writing press releases. It’s not 1990”. But people are still doing this. And I can tell you on the journalism side, what it’s like in a newsroom is crazy. hundreds of emails coming in every day. The last thing any member of the media wants is to read a press release in their inbox. the way we pitch our clients to the media, is with an email that is five sentences long with this story. This is why your audience should care. And this is how we can hand you everything on a silver platter. Because you have to tell them why they should do the story. people miss this part because they’re so overly promotional. They just see what’s in it for them. And that’s where they go wrong. And you have to make their job easy for them. Especially today, if you want to talk about the difference in 2021 versus all the years before. More and more as the years go on. Journalists are overworked and underpaid. So many people are bein- acting like journalists for free, because it helps them have that publicity. So for example, we’re hosting a podcast, nobody’s paying us to host a podcast, but we’re doing it. Because we are building our brand. We are contributing to online outlets without getting paid. Because it’s good for our brand. It’s a good way for us to build relationships. So there’s lots of people who are acting as journalists that are not getting paid. There’s lots of people on social media who just share news, and they’re not getting paid. So journalists need to, they need to have everything handed to them on a silver platter because they’re very busy, and they’re very overworked. That’s one thing that’s going to be different.
And another thing that is different is that the number of journalists, because of those reasons I just mentioned are fewer and fewer. So many people in the media are getting laid off because again, there’s podcasts, there’s contributors, people are happy to do that work for free, because it benefits them. So right now, I think the last stat I heard, for every journalist, there were four publicists. So just think of how much members of the media are just being hounded by publicist to cover things. And to be clear, publicists need members of the media. members of the media do not need publicist, there is enough going on in the news, there are enough stories that we can find. There are enough sources that we can find, there are enough products we could find. We don’t need to be pitched by a publicist. So if you are pitching as a publicist, like you have to think, from the mindset of that member of the media, and that’s why I say just short, sweet, get to the point, why should this person do this story? And how am I going to make it as easy for you as possible to do the story?
Abby Herman: And how do you make it really easy? That actually, maybe that’s another question. Let’s hold on that question for a second. Because I wanted to ask about, like, why should we be seeking out journalists? Why should we be seeking out media mentions, media spots, things like that? like you as an online business owner, or someone who operates 100% online? we have social media, we have our podcasts that are you know, marketing for us? Why do we need PR as well?
Christina Nicholson: A couple of reasons. One, you mentioned social media and your podcasts, which are great, you should have those. But that’s you telling everybody, you’re great. And when a member of the media tells everybody, you’re great, you get that level of credibility, and you get that authority. You don’t get that when you’re just tooting your own horn. But when a known liked and trusted source already says that, on your behalf, it’s like a referral. You’re gonna take it more seriously. That’s why whenever Oprah picks a book for her book club, it becomes the number one bestseller because we believe Oprah, Oprah is that source. If I told you read my book, obviously, I’m going to say that, it’s my book. It’s self-promotional. So that’s one reason it’s just a whole other level of credibility and authority. Another reason is Because it’s free, you don’t have to pay for it. For this reason, it is harder to get. it is a lot more competitive. And then the third reason is that it could last forever, it doesn’t go away. People like to spend money on ads because they know exactly what they’re going to get. And they know exactly when they’re going to get it, and what it’s gonna look like and what it’s gonna sound like, that’s great. But if people know it’s an ad, you’re not getting that credibility or authority. And when you stop spending money on it, it goes away, it disappears, if you land coverage in the media.
So for example, I’ve had clients dating back to when I started five, six years ago, who were on the Today Show, I can still find that today show clip online. When I searched the client’s name, it shows up on the first page of Google that he was on the Today Show. If that was, if that were an advertisement, it would have cost a lot of money, and you would not be able to find it five to six years later. So those are the three reasons that you should definitely be earning media. you build that authority and credibility, It’s free, and it could last forever.
Abby Herman: So what are some examples of free media that we should be seeking out specifically as online business owners? I mean, do I want to be on my local television morning show? Do I, you know, is radio with place to be? is it someplace more national or specifically online that I should be looking at? Like, what are our best avenues?
Christina Nicholson: That’s a really good question. And honestly, it’s going to be different for everybody. Because every media does a different thing. So if you are, for example, in online business, I really like podcasts, just because a lot of people in online business, listen to podcasts. And a podcast listener is so much more invested in what they’re listening to. They’re not scrolling online, they’re not flipping through the channels, they are actually going into their app, seeing the title of the podcast, choosing to download the episode, and listen to it. So there’s so much more invested. I love podcasts for any kind of business owner, when it comes to TV. I like local TV, regardless of who you are, and what you do, because TV is where you get the most credibility. So even if you’re an online business owner, you can get on TV. yeah, maybe a few online business owners are watching when you’re on. But when you take that TV clip, and you share it on your social media, and you share it with your email list that is going to set you apart from your competition from all of the other small business owners in that market where you live, who are not earning TV coverage. So TV is really good for turning it into credibility and publicity.
The guys I got on the Today Show, for example, they had a running app. And I guarantee you, there were tons of people watching that segment who hate running. But when they told people that they were on the Today Show, the credibility of their app went through the roof because there’s I mean, how many running apps are there probably 1000s. So it just set them apart. Now that same client, they got in a magazine called Runner’s World. Obviously, everybody reading that magazine was interested. So that’s in the magazine. It’s in print, which is fun and nice to see. Luckily, almost everything makes it online. So it was online, they get their backlink, it helps their SEO, more people see it because it’s online, and they can share it.
I tell people all the time. And I don’t know if people don’t believe me, or if they’re lazy. But where you get the profit from the publicity is sharing it. It’s not just I mean, yes, I had, for example, I’m closing a client this week for my agency, who found me on YouTube and found me on my podcast, I don’t know which one came first because I put my podcast episodes on my YouTube channel. So I don’t know if it was literally the podcast or the YouTube channel. But point being, he found me because I posted media online. And then he sent me an email. I wrote for ink magazine for two years. I never had anybody come to me because they just read an article in ink magazine and saw me and came to me it was because I shared the link to an article I wrote on my LinkedIn. And then people would message me Oh, you write for ink magazine, I want to get in ink magazine. How do I do that? How do I write for ink?
So there are- that’s what I mean, when I say there are different media that serves different purposes. And I think we are going to get the quickest ROI. If we’re speaking about small business owners, it’s going to be podcasts. And the TV is going to help you with your credibility. If again, after you’re on TV, you leverage that and you share it online is great for SEO. It’s great for sharing on social media. There are different ways to get to the end goal.
Abby Herman: And I love how you say that- the way you explained it. Everything is so interconnected. It’s so, yes, you’ve you’ve been on the news. share that on social media share it someplace else, you know, the media agency is likely sharing it in multiple places too. And, your friends and family want to see it as well. And they’re going to share it and you don’t know who is in their circle of influence, and you know who they’re going to share it with. And I loved the runner’s world example too, because, yeah, that today show credibility. And then into Runner’s world, those people are going to check out that app and see that it’s been on the news. And it’s like this. It’s just like this big circle this big cycle, right?
Christina Nicholson: It does, it snowballs, and not just I mean, you made a good point, when you said your family and friends could see it, you don’t know where it goes from that. That’s true with the media, too. I had a client once who had a baby product, and their product was featured on a website called trend Hunter. And I remember the owner of the product wasn’t that excited because she wanted to reach moms. And it was in trend Hunter, but a producer from the Rachael Ray show saw it and trend hunter and he remembered, oh, yeah, I got a pitch about this. So let me revisit this for Mother’s Day special. So then the baby product was on the Rachael Ray show. Because he saw it in another place, it increased that product’s credibility and authority, it reminded him of a pitch that we sent him, and it leads to more coverage. And I will also say one last thing about sharing especially on social media, you have to share every piece of media you earn. Not only is it common courtesy, but if you don’t, a journalist will see you’re not sharing it, and they will never go back to you for more coverage.
Something I include in every pitch is I tell them, I will share this on my social media if you include me. And that’s an incentive for them to include you in their story. I always share. And I always try to tag the journalist and the outlet, so they know I’m sharing because then they’re more likely to come back to you. Like Abby, when this podcast episode goes live, of course, I’m going to share it, I’m going to share it on my social media. And then I’m going to tag you if you’re easy to find, some people are hard to find. But if you’re easy to find, I get your handle, I’m going to tag you. So you see I’m sharing it, it makes such a difference. And it is shocking to me. How many people earn media exposure, and they do nothing with it. And they don’t share it. It’s like a slap in the face of somebody who just spent a lot of time giving you free coverage in front of their audience.
Abby Herman: Yes, I totally agree. And I love that you say to make sure you tag the people. Again, like you said, sometimes it’s hard to find the person sometimes it’s difficult, like scheduling software and things like that make it difficult to tag people sometimes. But I always if it’s a podcast that I’ve been on, I always try to go in, and once you know, my share has gone live, I’ll go in and try to tag the person that way as well. Because, yeah, so important. And, you know, as podcast hosts, we do backend work before we get on the call with the person to research so we can ask intelligent questions, so that we can have a conversation, that’s a value to our audience. So, you know, having a podcast is a marketing tool for myself, but then I also use it as a way for me to connect with other people and hopefully get them that some exposure as well. So yeah, it’s definitely like a, you know, I’m scratching your back, please scratch my back kind of Proposition. So,
Christina Nicholson: And it’s so disappointing How many people don’t return the favor, even after you tell them to. even after you ask them? I mean, I thought it was common sense. But clearly, it is not.
Abby Herman: It’s not, unfortunately. Okay, so I’m a small business owner, and I want to get myself out there. I want to get on podcasts, I’d like to get on the local media or on you know, wherever, what do we- what’s the first step? like what should we be doing to prepare our websites, prepare our social media, prepare us mentally, emotionally for getting on media? Because I mean, I’ve talked, you know, when I did PR years ago, I’ve been on television and done the interviews, and it’s nerve-racking, like what can we do to prepare ourselves so that we’re not a nervous wreck?
Christina Nicholson: Yeah. Well, I mean, that’s one thing is, it’s really not a big deal. If you think about it, like think about the news that you consume every day. After you consume it. Two minutes later, you are on to the next. That’s again, why it’s important to consistently share this media, you have to remind people you earned it. So it’s really not that big of a deal because there’s so much going on in so many places. But the starting point is to figure out your goal, like what is your goal? Do you want to build your email list? if you do, focus on podcasts don’t focus on TV. Do you want people to walk into your local brick and mortar store? Then focus on local media, don’t focus on podcasts. focus on those local newspapers and magazines and TV. So you need to be clear on your goal. So many people think, Oh, I just want the today show. I want CNN, everybody wants the big ones. Okay, well, why? Like, do you just want to look cool? Or do you actually want to try to get publicity to turn it into profit? So focus on your goal, and that’s going to tell you where you need to be.
And then once you get there, you have to make sure things are ready to convert, again, going back to your goal. If you want to build your email list, do you have an opt-in ready? If people go to that page on your website? Is it set up to convert? If you’re selling something? Does your website look good? Is it working? Is your store open? Is your product ready for people to buy? So you have to think of these things? Because if you’re getting major publicity, like say you pitch a podcast, and it was a long shot, you didn’t think they say yes. And they said yes. And then you get on the podcast, but your thing isn’t ready for sale, then it’s kind of a wasted opportunity. So you have to think of your goal. And then after you got it, you have to not pitch blindly. Like I wish I had $1 for every pitch I got where people like must have thought my niche was fine jewelry, or alcohol or what like, how does this- Have you listened or read anything I have done before? How is this relative? It’s so obvious that I’m like one of 500 people getting the exact same email at the exact same time, it doesn’t work like that, yes, it’s very time consuming to send emails one by one. But that’s kind of what you have to do. That’s why it’s not easy. That’s why not a lot of people do it. That’s why hiring an agency is expensive. It is a time-consuming task. So make sure you know who you’re pitching, listen to the podcast, look at their social media, connect with them on Twitter, whatever it is. So you don’t sound like an idiot when you do pitch.
And then when you do pitch, I mentioned this earlier, just tell them how you can help their audience. why their audience should care. Don’t write a free commercial all about yourself, what you do, your product, and your service. That’s not news that’s not newsworthy. If you want to do that, then somebody’s going to send you straight to the sales department, they’re going to give you the specs on buying an ad, you have to add some kind of value to their audience, you have to give them a reason to give you coverage for free. So those are all things that you have to keep in mind. I think the biggest mistake people make in their pitches are they’re too promotional. And every press release, like if it was really newsworthy, it could just be put into a few sentences, you wouldn’t have the time to write this long, boring, press release and send it out. So I think people need to stop trying to get married right out of the gate and like say, “Hey, nice to meet you” first, because and people think “Well, what’s the point, if I’m not promoting myself, or my product or my service?: Well, you are. like the promotion happens by default. People get to know you, they get to like you, they get to trust you. And then you’re seeing in a variety of places a variety of times. And that’s what people want to see when they are ready to pull the trigger and make that purchase. They know who to go to. So the overly promotional stuff it is. So next level, it is the biggest mistake people continue to make year after year. And you got to stop doing it. Trust me, you will get the promotion anyway.
Abby Herman: Yes. You know, probably about a year ago, maybe a little more closer to the beginning of when I started my podcast, I had an episode where I talked about how I had been on 20 something podcasts, and I hadn’t pitched a single one. I made it a point to establish relationships with the podcast host. it was strategic because I knew I wanted to be on specific podcasts. And so I would connect with the person on Instagram or I would share their episodes or you know, just get in front of them. And it works really well for me, you know, now I’m to the point where I’m starting to do some matching where I want to do bigger podcasts or, you know, I just don’t have the time to really nurture those one on one relationships in the same way as I did then. What do you think about doing something like that with the media, with members of the media? Is that something that works? Is that something that members of the media, with how crazy busy they are, are they paying attention to business owners? How would something like that work?
Christina Nicholson: Yeah, I think when it comes to traditional members of the media, as well as you know, influencers, podcast host contributors. They’re all on Twitter. So get on Twitter, retweet what they’re tweeting, comment on their tweets. start a relationship on Twitter. Once got somebody on CNN because I sent an email, I know they get 1000s of emails a day. So I tweeted the producer and the host, and I said, Hey, just a heads up, I emailed you a pitch about this. So it’s in your inbox, you’re more likely to pay attention to a notification on Twitter than you are one of 1000s and 1000s of emails in your inbox. So I think building a relationship is key, and building relationship. That’s something that’s so cliche, like, you don’t have to send somebody flowers, it’s literally a matter of following them on Twitter and interacting with them on Twitter, or LinkedIn, wherever they are active. And it’s not that hard. It just takes an extra few minutes every day. And that’s where people struggle. I think there’s a work ethic and a lazy problem, especially when it comes to working with the media. But yes, we pay attention. Like if you see I’m doing a story on addiction, and you know, an addiction specialist or you know, somebody who’s in recovery, then send me a tweet and let me know, hey, if you need somebody like this, let me know I can help you out, then I’m going to come for you for anything that I need. Because you’re so helpful. And you are so engaged with me.
Abby Herman: Yes, I love that. So you have a program Pitch Publicity Profit. Can you talk a little bit about that and what we can learn from that is it a free program?
Christina Nicholson: It’s free. It’s amazing. I mean, if I say so myself, so if you can access it at pitchpublicityprofit.com. And basically, it’s a three-day thing. You can read the email, you can watch the video. day one, I teach you how to pitch the media. And on day one, I share an exact pitch that got one of my media mentoring clients on TV, she literally pitched on a Monday was on TV in San Diego, on a Wednesday morning doing a segment her first time on TV day to the publicity. You talked about nerves when we started chatting, Abby, so this is like how to do a good job on TV. So you don’t look like an idiot, So you get invited back, like how to ace the publicity. And then day three, how to turn it into profit for this person, specifically, her goal. She was a dietitian in San Diego, and her goal was to get more mom clients to help them with their kids eating. And that was her goal. But the publicity or the profit that she actually earned from the publicity was she started getting brand deals from local food makers in San Diego because they saw her on TV. So they assumed she was an influencer And she was a big deal. So they were like, hey, we’ll pay you to write about our product on your blog. And ever since then, she’s become a brand ambassador. And she’s become a regular on two different TV stations in San Diego talking about food and nutrition. So she’s built her brand, her personal brand as the go-to person in this industry.
And I mean, I totally give you a behind the scenes look at all of this at Pitch Publicity Profit. And then I also have another resource. I don’t like sharing templates. I like sharing the exact thing that worked. So you get that exact pitch that works. And then if you go to podcastclout.com/Pat, sorry, I’m totally springing this on you, Abby, I didn’t tell you about this before, but it’s a really good one. So I want to share it. If you go to podcastclout.com/Pat, I share the exact pitch again, that I use to get on Pat Flynn’s podcast Smart Passive Income. Five years ago, I’ve been on his podcast three times Now. This is one of the first podcasts I was on. I had like, no business, I was brand new. I called myself a professional Freelancer at the time. And I share the exact pitch that I sent, how I followed up the timeframe between booking and recording and the podcast going live, and what happened after. like I’m an oversharer. So I shared the entire thing, starting with the exact pitch that I sent. So that’s at podcastclout.com/Pat. And then the other one is that pitchpublicityprofit.com. Both free.
Abby Herman: I am definitely checking out Pat Flynn’s because that’s interesting. I’ve heard stories from different perspectives of being on his podcast. So I’m super excited to hear yours and what worked and all of that. So thank you for that. I’m also excited to have you on this summit coming up in March and to talk a little bit more about PR for small businesses and how to how to make that happen. So thank you for that.
Christina Nicholson: I’m excited too, that’s gonna be fun.
Abby Herman: Yes. So well, thank you so much for your expertise and your insight. I yeah, I can’t wait to see your presentation at the summit. And I will make sure to include all of your links in the show notes.
Christina Nicholson: Thank you, Abby.
Abby Herman: so much great information. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane and my own history with public relations. I wonder what are you going to do to elevate your own visibility? Hopefully, you’ve signed up for the waiting list for the Content Experiment Summit So you can learn more from Christina there. Sign up for the waiting list at thecontentexperiment.com/summit. Registration officially goes live on February 26. If you found value in what you learned here today, be sure to share it on social media. Take a screenshot of the episode on your phone and share it over on Instagram stories. tag me @AbbyMHerman and Christina @ChristinaAllDay. The more you share, the more we can get the podcast into the hands of more business owners just like you who need to hear the message that they are not alone. Until next time, take care
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
